A Tempo
by kshearten
Summary: Rachel's life hasn't exactly gone according to plan. When her biggest 'what if' walks back into her life, can she discover the girl she used to be or will she let her past hold her back? Finchel FutureFic
1. Prologue

**A Tempo**

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_**a tem·po**__ (ä tĕm__ˈ__pō__)_

_adverb & adj.  
Music _

_In the tempo originally designated; resuming the initial tempo of a section or movement after a specified deviation from it. Used chiefly as a direction._

_Origin: Italian : a, in + tempo, time._

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**Prologue**

_June 2020_**  
**

Taking a sip of her wine, Rachel pushed rewind and stared at her television in dull shock. Earlier it had been an herbal tea that she had spewed out into her living room when she first saw the clip, now she had since moved on to an aged Merlot from David's off-limits wine cabinet. Surely he'd understand that it was the first bottle she had grabbed in her surprise upon seeing Finn Hudson, _Finn Hudson_ of all people!, smiling that crooked smile of his back at her from the screen.

Rachel was not one to sit around at home and watch TV during the day; usually she was out managing charity events or following the strict social schedule laid out for her by her overbearing mother-in-law, but today was a special occasion. She had read a short article in the entertainment section of the _Times_ that her former high school glee club had won the National Show Choir Championship for the third time in eight years and would be featured on that day's episode of _Sam in the City_.

_Sam in the City_ was New York's newest daytime talk show; its host, Samantha Sullivan, was earning great reviews and had a positive reputation for supporting the arts in schools, often inviting various clubs and troupes to perform on her show. When Rachel learned that the New Directions, still under the direction of her former teacher, William Schuester, would be featured, she immediately set the show on record and cleared her schedule for the day.

At the time in question, she sent the boys out with their nanny (it wasn't her choice to employ the earnest Swedish woman, but David and his mother had insisted) and waited impatiently through the opening segments and an interview. Finally, after a commercial break, the camera zoomed to Samantha Sullivan's smiling face.

"Now, as you all know, I recently had the privilege to be one of the celebrity judges at this year's National Show Choir Championship," she began. "I can't tell you how exciting the experience was for me. The kids I saw performing were absolutely _amazing_, they just _are_ epitome of fun _and_ talent."

She paused as the studio audience clapped. "Now today, through a very fortunate coincidence, we are lucky enough to have this year's champions perform for us!" She stood and the camera zoomed out to reveal a group of students already in their places. "Ladies and gentleman, hailing from Lima, Ohio, McKinley High School's NEW DIRECTIONS!"

Rachel smiled as the music started and they began their set. As she expected, the costumes and dancing were much more polished, but the heart that _was_ the New Directions was still there, still beating strong and proud as it had been when she had stood on stage all those years ago. They did a short set, starting with "Pocket Full of Sunshine", a mash-up of a couple of current pop songs, and finally, the token song of the New Directions since day one, Journey's "Don't Stop Believing".

Try as she might, she couldn't stop the tears that flowed down her face as a rush of emotions assaulted her. Bittersweet nostalgia that stung slightly and made her yearn for those carefree days of high school, made her think of people not-so-long forgotten.

When the club was done performing, they took seats arranged next to Samantha's desk, Mr. Schuester himself seated with them. For the most part, he remained unchanged, maybe a few more laugh lines around the eyes and a little gray at the temples, but that was it.

"What a great group you've got here, Will!" Samantha gushed.

Mr. Schue smiled over at his students. "Every year, I'm surprised by how lucky I am to work with such awesome kids."

The interview continued on for a few minutes, Samantha asking Mr. Schuester and various members of the New Directions questions and exchanging generalities. Towards the end of the interview, Samantha smiled and leaned over her desk. "Now, it's not just luck that got the New Directions here to join us today."

"I can honestly say I was extremely surprised when I got the call," Mr. Schue laughed.

Samantha joined in and shook her head, her brown curls bouncing around her face. "As it turns out, we have a McKinley High School alumnus working right here in my staff! Hey Stu, do we have the clip?" She looked off-camera and smiled. "We do? Great! Will, do you want to tell us what we're going to be seeing here?"

Mr. Schuester smiled broadly. "If it is what I think it is, it's my original team performing at Nationals in 2012."

"And this was your first Nationals win, correct?"

"That's right."

"Alright, let's roll it!"

Rachel watched in fascination as a short clip of their Nationals performance lit up the screen. There she was, center stage, singing her heart out, when from out of the ranks of the team harmonizing behind her, a tall boy stepped up and joined her. She listened as Finn's voice melded with hers and together they stole the show. She had known the moment they had begun their duet that they had won.

The clip ended and Samantha was back on the screen. "Folks, I want you to know that the boy you just saw singing is _Sam in the City_'s very own associate producer, Finn Hudson!"

Suddenly the camera cut backstage and to her surprise (and his, for that matter) there he was with a headset on and a clipboard in hand. Cue spewed herbal tea.

"Whoa!" he gasped to the audience's hilarity, and attempted to cover his face with his clipboard in embarrassment. "What are you doing, Sam?"

"How does it feel seeing this legacy you've created, Finn?" Samantha asked, ignoring his question.

He smiled his crooked smile and looked awkwardly away from the camera for a moment. Rachel could feel her heart pounding, he hadn't changed _at all_. Except for the slight stubble on his face, he was exact same old Finn. How was that even possible?

"It, uh, it feels good. Real good."

"And you were the captain, right?"

"_Co-_captain," he amended, much to Rachel's delight.

"Do you still sing?"

Finn shrugged. "For my dog sometimes," he answered.

Samantha giggled. "Finn Hudson, a man of few words.

This time Finn smiled in earnest. "Only when caught off guard. Next time I'll have a speech prepared."

The camera cut back to a laughing Samantha Sullivan and Mr. Schuester, who concluded their interview and left Rachel in the stupor that she had been in all day. She had barely been able to snap out of it when the boys got home, ready to eat dinner and get ready for bed. She was lucky she had even been able to prepare herself for dinner with David that night; it took her four tries to get her hair into a simple French twist and she had to call Agnetha in to help her button up the back of her little black dress. He was meeting with clients at a new restaurant downtown and had insisted that she look her best.

It was while she waited that she opened the bottle of wine and had rewound and watched that particular segment three more times. She looked down at her watch impatiently, it was almost a quarter past nine; David was supposed to pick her up at eight thirty! She picked up her phone and dialed his number again, but it went straight to voicemail.

With a sigh, she poured herself another glass of wine and nursed it bitterly, staring at Finn's paused face. How long had he been in New York? And why hadn't he looked her up? True, they had broken up nearly ten years ago, but there was no reason why they couldn't be friends _now_.

It was so strange that he was in New York, though. She had seen Kurt and his partner at an event at the Met a couple of years ago, and he had told her that Finn was living in Chicago with a girlfriend. She had been pregnant with Andrew then. How strange how time flew…

She lifted an eyebrow upon hearing a noise from the hallway. The noise was soon followed by giggles and she rolled her eyes. She snuck over to the door of her sons' bedroom and peeked in. Michael was clambering back into his bed and Andrew was in his, laughing under his blanket at his older brother's antics.

"What are you two up to?" she asked, crossing her arms. They both stilled immediately. Rachel waited, not moving, until Michael turned slowly around and smiled innocently up at her.

"Hi, Mama."

"You're supposed to be asleep," she reminded him, walking over to his bed and straightening his pillow. She stole a glance at her two and half year old in the other bed, who was peering back at her from under his blanket.

"Hi, Andy." He sputtered with laughter and burrowed himself under the covers.

"You look pretty, Mama," Michael said, ever the little charmer.

"Pretty Mommy," Andrew echoed.

"Thank you, baby," she replied graciously. "But it's still time for bed."

"But it's summertime!" he protested.

Rachel gave him a stern look. "And you _still_ have a bedtime, Michael Kutner."

"Moo-_ooom_."

"Mi_chael_," she imitated. She looked over at Andrew. "You want Mommy to sing you a song?"

"Yes!" Andrew chirped, laying back down and smiling up at her.

"I'm too old for lullabies," Michael mumbled, turning his back to her. She smiled; he would be six in a couple of months and she couldn't help wondering where had her baby gone.

"Okay then, I'll sing for Andy." She moved to the end of his bed and softly began.

_"Now it's time to say good night_  
_Good night, sleep tight_  
_Now the sun turns out his light_  
_Good night, sleep tight_  
_Dream sweet dreams for me_  
_Dream sweet dreams for you._

"_Close your eyes and I'll close mine_  
_Good night, sleep tight_  
_Now the moon begins to shine_  
_Good night, sleep tight_  
_Dream sweet dreams for me_  
_Dream sweet dreams for you…"_

She trailed off, stopping after the second verse. They were fast asleep. She took a moment to straighten their blankets and kiss them goodnight before creeping quietly out of the room. She knocked on Agnetha's door and reminded her that she was going out on her way back to the living room where Finn's frozen face was still smiling at her. She sighed and turned off the television, glancing anxiously at her phone. It wasn't like David to be so late.

She was working on her third glass of wine when the shrill trill of the phone snapped her out of her reverie. She frowned when she didn't recognize the number and with a strange sense of foreboding, she pressed the talk button. "Hello?"

"Mrs. David Kutner?" a voice crackled through the line.

"Yes?" she answered warily.

"I'm sorry to disturb you so late, but I'm calling from Lenox Hill Hospital." Rachel felt her heart drop. "Your husband's been in an accident."

* * *

"_Good Night" originally appeared on the Beatles' 1968 release, __**The Beatles (The White Album)**__. Song written by and copyrighted to John Lennon and Paul McCartney._

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	2. A Good Looking Lawyer

**A Tempo**

**Chapter One: A _Good Looking _Lawyer  
**

_June 2021_

Crossing her arms and heaving a deep sigh, Rachel surveyed the warzone that was her living room. How on earth could two little boys make such a mess in such little time? Honestly, their grandmother had dropped them off only a couple of hours ago! Even now, she could hear them squealing and playing in their room, undoubtedly leaving terror and destruction in their wake.

"Michael! Andrew!" she shouted, making her way through the small apartment to their room. "Come on guys, we've got to go!"

They both looked up at her from the floor. Sure enough, all sorts of things were strewn pell-mell throughout the room. "Guys," she cried, "we don't have enough room for you to be throwing all of your stuff around." She picked up a worn stuffed rabbit and threw it into their toy box dejectedly.

"Sorry, Mama," they said in unison.

"It's alright; we'll just have to straighten up tomorrow."

"You have work tomorrow," Michael reminded her.

"Okay, then we'll get to it when we get to it," she said in exasperation, running a hand down her face. "Now baby, can you go get the lasagna out of the refrigerator while I put on Andy's shoes? I'm already running late."

"I _hate _staying with Mrs. Nedry," he complained as Rachel struggled to capture Andrew's foot. "Her apartment smells funny."

"Well, Michael, we don't really have a choice at the moment." She slipped Andrew's shoe on and deftly tied the laces.

"I don't see why we just couldn't've stayed with Bubbe."

Rachel groaned inwardly. Sometimes it felt as if she had David had divorced and the settlement had been made with his parents, or more specifically, with his mother, Maura. Not that she could complain, they did pay the boys' private school tuition and other various necessities in exchange for having them every other weekend. And while Andrew didn't like being away from his mama for so long, Michael was easily bought off with video games, candy, and kosher meats.

"That's because you are _my_ son and I want you here with me," she explained levelly, careful not to say anything negative about Maura in their presence.

"There we go!" she announced upon finishing her task. She stood up, grabbing Andrew by the hands and plopping him down on the floor. He giggled happily and ran to the front door, hopping up and down while he waited for his mother and brother.

"Okay, Michael, you ready?" Rachel asked, grabbing her purse. Michael shrugged and made his way to the door, hands in his pockets. She whisked them out of the apartment and was about to lock the door behind them when she noticed Michael's empty hands. "The lasagna," she hissed, rushing back into the apartment.

"Can I knock on her door, Mommy?" Andrew called after her.

She shouted out an affirmative as she grabbed the uncooked vegan pasta out of the refrigerator. She slammed the door shut and turned, nearly toppling over a Transformer, and ran back into the hallway.

"Hold this," she ordered, shoving the lasagna into Michael's hands. She had locked the door and whipped back around just in time to see Mrs. Nedry greeting Andrew.

"Hello, dearies," the elderly woman said softly. She dug around in her pockets and handed each of them what looked to be unwrapped Hershey Kisses.

Rachel forced a smile and took the lasagna out of Michael's hands to give to Mrs. Nedry. "Thank you so much for looking after them, Mrs. Nedry," she said.

"Oh, it's no problem dear," Mrs. Nedry said. She looked down at the dish in her hands skeptically and gave it a sniff. "What is in this lasagna?"

"Oh, you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. It's vegan!"

"Hm," she murmured, "I'll just add some hot dogs to it for flavor."

Rachel's face fell. "Oh, don't worry, sweetie. I bought Hebrew Nationals."

"Well, in that case... an hour at 350 should do it," Rachel replied, forcing a laugh. "Okay, Michael, Andrew. Mommy's leaving."

She leaned down to give each of them a hug, but when it was Michael's turn, he pulled out of her arms and pushed his way into the apartment. He flung himself on her sofa and plucked up a tabby kitten that had chased excitedly after one of his untied shoelaces.

"Don't worry about him, he'll perk up in a few minutes," Mrs. Nedry commented, which only made Rachel feel worse.

"I'm sure he will… please give me a call if they give you any trouble."

"But they're such well-behaved children!" the elderly woman insisted.

She spared one last glance at her sons, now engrossed in the kitten's antics. "Be good, boys!" she called, turning to run down the three flights of stairs. Once she made it onto the street, she glanced at her watch. Crap! She had ten minutes to make it eight blocks. She considered hailing a taxi, but she really didn't have the funds at the moment, and there really was no guarantee it would get her there any faster.

She began walking quickly in the direction of the restaurant. It seemed as each step she took was mocking her: _Broke, broke, broke. You're broke, broke, broke_.

She tried not to scream in frustration, and although this _was _New York and everyone had probably seen much stranger things, she doubted anyone would like a frazzled woman screaming in their ear.

True, this existence wasn't much different than how she lived when she first moved to New York, but now she had two little boys to support. She didn't expect handouts, just a break for goodness sake!

She scowled; sometimes she wished she could bring David back to life just to strangle him for the predicament he had put her in. Of course she immediately felt guilty for thinking that way, David _had_ been her husband and she loved him. If only he had let her know that they were broke instead of leading her to believe that they had money! She didn't need an apartment overlooking Central Park or a Mercedes-Benz, just him and the boys.

It had been such a fairytale when she met him; she was singing in a cabaret, her first real show, and he was a big-time corporate lawyer with good hair and a nice smile that waited for her every night after her performance. She probably should have held him off longer than she did considering how long it had been since she and Finn had broken up (three months, to be exact), but David Kutner just had one of those infectious personalities that made person feel as if they just had to be near him.

She honestly hadn't been thinking of getting engaged when he proposed three months later, but he was such a force of nature that she just couldn't say no. She had been in talks with the producer of an Off-Broadway show when she allowed him to talk her out of it; the plan had just been to put off auditioning for a year or so that they could get settled in, but she became pregnant with Michael almost immediately. From there David had talked her into going to Columbia – _Columbia_ of all the schools in New York – to study music theory. After Andrew was born, it seemed as if she could finally try and break back into the Broadway circuit when David had his accident. And that's when it hit the fan…

He had taken a second mortgage out on the apartment, loans on the cars, student loans, credit card debt – pretty much, if it had "debt" or "loan" in the name, they were in it. She should have known there was something off when he refused to allow her to run their finances, he just said that there was a reason they had an accountant. An accountant that he hadn't _paid_ in three months.

Fortunately, David had been wise enough to invest in a lucrative life insurance policy. How he had been able to pay for it, Rachel had no idea, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. It had helped alleviate much of the debt, along with everything that she sold, but she still had her student loans and a few credit cards to take care of.

If only Maura would let her sell the house in the Hamptons. It was the only thing they owned outright because it had been left to him by his grandmother. But Maura insisted that it held sentimental value and it would kill her to see another family living in it. While the deed was now in Rachel's name, she couldn't find it in her heart to sell it without her in-laws' approval.

Oh, they offered to help her plenty of times, but only if she and the boys moved in with them. And while Maura gave to plenty of charities, wore faux fur, and was an active member of their synagogue, Rachel wasn't wholly convinced that her mother-in-law wasn't evil. Her dads had offered to help too, but that would mean going back to Lima, which was the equivalent of admitting defeat. So here she was, living in a dingy apartment and working two jobs, waiting until the day she could... well, she didn't know anymore. Broadway seemed so far away now and she wasn't even sure it would be fair to the boys, she already got to see them so little and a real show would take up so much more of her time. So, for the time being, it meant suffering through another shift at Rhonda's Bar and Grille.

She groaned inwardly as she set foot into the restaurant and the smell of fried foods assaulted her senses. It was not the best place for a vegan to work, but they had good crowds and that meant plenty of tips.

"Rachel, you're late!" the manager yelled when he saw her sneak in. "You've got station five, now get on it!"

"I know, I know," she grumbled, putting on her apron.

She hurried out into the main dining room and started talking orders. Things were going smoothly for once when she noticed a large group at one of the other stations. She could tell they were theater types. Not that they were dressed in costume or broke out into song, but she just _knew_. She stared at them enviously for a minute and was about to turn around when something caught her eye. She turned and squinted to get a better look when she realized she was staring at none other than Kurt Hummel!

He was talking animatedly to the person next to him, and when she realized who it was, she nearly died. Mercedes Jones and Kurt Hummel were sitting right there in the same room as her! As if he could feel her eyes on him, Kurt moved to look in her direction, but one of his friends down the table caught his attention, and they all began laughing uproariously at something he said.

She had to hide while she still could! She ran to the back as quickly as possible without being too obvious and grabbed the arm of her friend, Mallory.

"Mal, quick, who is working station eight?" she demanded, referring to a station in the smaller dining room. Everyone hated working station eight because it was slower than in the main room, but she couldn't let Mercedes and Kurt see her.

"Macy. Why?"

"Where is she? I've got to switch stations with her."

"Probably out back for a smoke, but why on earth would you want to switch with her?"

Rachel didn't answer and ran back to the alley to find Macy. She begrudgingly agreed – Macy liked her cigarette breaks and could take as many she wanted at slower stations, even if it meant sacrificing tips. Rachel heaved a sigh of relief, but that didn't mean she was out of the clear yet. She still had to go through the main room to get to the kitchens and registers, but if she stuck to the wall and ducked behind a few of the potted plants, she should be okay.

She kept an eye on their table, praying that neither one of her former classmates would notice her. She had known that Kurt lived in New York and worked as a costume designer, but she had no clue that Mercedes lived there as well. Not that it surprised her; they had always been attached at the hip.

The group stayed for nearly an hour and a half, which was a pain because they were getting into the dinner crowd and things were beginning to pick up. Fortunately, more people meant that there was less of a chance that they would spot her.

Finally they got up to leave and she ducked behind a plant to watch them walk out. For whatever reason, they stopped and chatted for a few minutes with the hostess before heading to the door. Mercedes turned and looked around as if she had forgotten something, but Kurt placed a hand on her arm and guided her out.

Rachel exhaled deeply and rubbed the stress out of her neck. The last thing she needed was and old friend or two complicating her life even more than it already was.

* * *

"So I tell the guy if he doesn't want to fix the damn problem, unscrew the light bulb and sell it before it crashes!"

Finn looked down into his beer and smiled uncertainly. As much as he enjoyed hanging out with Jeremy Hebert, he wasn't sure that he'd ever get his Wall Street humor.

"Looks like the Rangers scored again," he commented, nodding to the TV hanging in the corner of the bar.

"Hello, hello!" Kurt called, walking up to their table, Mercedes in tow.

"Hey, baby." Jer smiled, standing up to exchange a quick kiss with his partner. Finn took a deep swig of his beer and turned his attention back to the game in order to give the couple a little privacy while they exchanged their hellos. He couldn't help but smile at the thought that _he_ was actually the one who played unintentional matchmaker to the pair. He and Jer had befriended each other during their first year at Ohio University and were in the same pledge class for Beta Theta Pi. Eventually, they had even become roommates during their junior and senior years.

Finn had no clue about Jer's sexual orientation until the summer after their junior year, though. They had gone to stay a week at Jer's parents' lake house in St. Marys with a few other guys and Finn had extended the invitation to Kurt. It was when he ran into his step-brother sneaking out of Jer's room that he put two and two together. While the revelation had surprised him, it did answer a few lingering questions he had after a drinking game with Jer a few months before the event in question.

Jer and Kurt had been together ever since and, while it was still a little weird sometimes, Finn couldn't be happier for them.

"So," Mercedes said, plopping down in a seat next to Finn, "you will never guess in a million years who we saw today!"

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"Please, Mercedes," Kurt said, "let me. But first..." he motioned to their waitress.

"A lemon drop martini for me, a Cosmo for her, and dos shots of tequila, por favor. And make it the good stuff!"

"Have a tough day?" Jer asked.

"Oh, they're not for me! They're for Finn."

Finn groaned; he _hated_ doing shots. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Believe me, you'll need them," Mercedes laughed.

"Did you guys run into my boss or something? Am I getting fired?"

"No, this is worse," Kurt insisted as the waitress set their drinks on the table. "Now, quick! Take a shot!"

Begrudgingly, Finn picked one up and downed the shot. "Ugh!"

"Rachel Berry!"

Finn balked. That was a name he hadn't heard in a long time, much less thought of. Okay, maybe he did think of her from time to time, more often than he liked to admit. But he wasn't going to say that out loud. He must have zoned out because Kurt nudged the second shot towards him. "You can take that one now."

Jer laughed at Finn's face as he threw down the prescribed dose of tequila. "And who is Rachel Berry again?"

"Finn's ex," Mercedes said.

"The infamous high school sweetheart," sighed Kurt. "The Ben to his Jerry, the Taco to his Bell –"

"Hey!" Finn exclaimed. That sounded a little dirty for his taste.

"– the Allie to his Noah –"

"Okay, I get the point!" Jer said, stopping Kurt's poetic exaltation. By the look on his face, Finn could tell he didn't know who Allie and Noah were either.

"You know, we actually saw her a few years ago! It was at a fundraiser or something; she was at our table..." Jer looked at him blankly.

"Small... brunette," Kurt supplied, "She was pregnant at the time… I _told _you we went to high school together."

Finn looked at Kurt in surprise; he had no clue that Rachel had kids. Or _a_ kid, at least. Either way, she was a mom. _Weird_.

"Oh yeah, I think I remember. Her husband was that good looking lawyer?"

Great, he thought, she just had to be married to a _good looking_ lawyer. He was pretty sure no one ever referred to him as "that good looking associate producer." If anything, he was "that really tall dude who worked for _Sam in the City_."

Kurt arched an eyebrow. "You thought he was good looking?"

"Er… no… I mean, I don't remember," Jer said quickly. "Man, where is our waitress? I need another beer. You just can't get good help these days..."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "You two are ridiculous. Tell him the rest, Kurt."

"Anyway," Kurt said, eying Jeremy dangerously, "Mercedes and I were meeting some friends at Rhonda's for a late lunch –"

"Oo, they've got a good ham and cheese sandwich," Jer interrupted.

"Do you mind?" Kurt snapped. "Or would you like to go over the rest of their menu?"

"By all means, please continue!" Jer insisted. He then looked over his shoulder, mumbling something about the damn waitress.

"As I was saying, we were meeting some friends for lunch," Kurt paused in case Jer had anything else to add, but he just shrugged indifferently and waved Kurt on, "when I noticed a waitress out by the kitchens. Well, it was none other than _the _Rachel Berry! Or Weinstein, or Greenburg, or whatever her name is now."

"If she's a waitress, then apparently her husband's not a very successful lawyer," Jer chuckled.

"Actually, he's a dead lawyer. According to our gabby hostess, he died about a year ago in a car accident."

"What?" Finn asked incredulously. Rachel was a widow? He never would have guessed that in a million years. "How do you know that? Is she okay?"

"She didn't exactly come talk to us," Mercedes responded. "I wanted to say hello, but she kept hiding behind a potted plant in the corner, which kind of led me to believe she really wasn't interested in visiting. So Kurt paid the hostess to give us the 4-1-1."

Kurt nodded. "Well, they had been living the high life. You know how it goes: an apartment on the Upper East Side, a house in the Hamptons, European vacations, et cetera, et cetera, and then he dies. Rachel naturally thinks he made arrangements for the family if he ever went toes up, but as it turns out, he was broke. She's left with a ton of debt, zip in the bank, and two little boys to take care of."

"Oh God," Finn choked.

"No kidding," Jer agreed.

"She worked during the school year as a music teacher while waitressing part time. Now that it's summer, she's a regular at the restaurant in order to make ends meet. She's still on the East Side, just not the upper half, if you know what I mean."

Finn couldn't believe what he was hearing. What had happened to Rachel? Why wasn't she on Broadway? When he moved to New York, he had wondered why he hadn't seen her name on any of the marquees. He had even Googled her name just to be sure, but he hadn't found anything on her. She wasn't even on Facebook.

Kurt took a sip of his martini and gave a satisfied smile. "Good gossip always makes me thirsty. Now, Finn, you do know what this means, don't you?"

He shrugged. "No, but I'm sure you'll tell me."

"Give her a call! Get a little action! Lord knows you need it."

"Whoa, babe, show a little tact!" Jer exclaimed.

"No shit, Kurt!" Finn nearly shouted. "That's the worse idea I've ever heard!"

"Agreed," Mercedes chimed in.

"What? They were pretty hot and heavy in high school! Need I remind you that I shared a house with you? Anytime Dad and Carole were out, you two were in your room going at it like monkeys."

He nearly choked on his beer in shock while Mercedes and Jer burst out laughing. Traitors. "We didn't do it like… like _monkeys_."

"Fine, the primate of your choice. I just think it's time you started having a little fun. Ever since you moved to New York, it's been work, work, work. I never thought I would see the day that Finn Hudson put his career before his friends and family."

"I do not!"

"Oh _really_? Then how come we haven't seen you in two weeks?" Kurt pointed out. "And when was the last time you've been to go see your mother?"

"You know we're trying to go national! Once the show gets picked up, I'll get my free time back," he insisted. "Screwing around with a widowed mom won't make that happen any faster."

"Fine, don't take my advice," Kurt said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Your loss."

Finn chugged down the rest of his beer and motioned to their waitress for a refill. Maybe Kurt wasn't _totally_ wrong. He didn't need any help to get laid, and he certainly didn't have to stoop so low as to woo widowed mothers, but that didn't mean he couldn't look Rachel up. He knew probably better than anyone what it was like for a single mom. He'd grown up with one. A _broke _single mom at that.

Besides being his girlfriend, Rachel had also been his best friend. She was probably hurting for a good friend at a time like this, so why shouldn't he be there to help? And from the sounds of it, she had two little boys that could probably use a cool guy like himself in their life. He could be like their Mr. Schuester!

There was absolutely no reason why he shouldn't give her a call. He mentally gave himself a pat on the back. Yup, he would definitely look her up in the morning.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I'm actually not too big on A/Ns but I figured it might go against etiquette to not take a moment to introduce my story! This is my first attempt at Glee fanfiction; once this little nugget got in my head, I just couldn't stop myself from putting it down to paper. I appreciate reviews and any kind of constructive criticism anyone may have to offer, I just ask that you be kind, my itty bitty feelings are very fragile!_

_As for this chapter, I really hope you find the bar scene funny. It's very dialogue driven, which I've been working on, but I assure you, it was hilarious inside my head. You'll definitely be seeing some more of Jeremy, Kurt, and Mercedes (as well as her husband) later on in the story._

_That being said, I truly hope that you enjoy __**A Tempo**__ as much as I enjoy writing it!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	3. A Dog Named Tank

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Two: A Dog Named Tank**

They had made it.

It had been one year, an entire year since the accident, the worst was over now. She'd lived through the birthdays, their anniversary, the holidays, the little milestones in their sons' lives (oh, how she cried over Michael's first lost tooth!) and now it was time to move on. Not that this offered any sort of liberation from her troubles, it was just the sense that somehow things would get better.

At first, Rachel didn't know how to commemorate the day; it wasn't as if the death of her husband was a positive thing. But it was a grieving process. She knew Michael and Andrew weren't aware of the exact date, but she knew that they had every right to know what the day was and remember their father accordingly.

Andrew was still too little to understand completely, of course, but Michael had been David's little carbon copy since day one. Everything David had done fascinated him and he missed him terribly. So today was for Michael as much as herself.

It was one of her rare days off, so she stayed in bed longer than necessary and took her time preparing a breakfast of stuffed French toast and scramble eggs. Try as she might, her children were still consummate omnivores, so she indulged them with a rare treat every now and then.

"Oh! Is today a meat day?" Michael exclaimed, coming out of his room. Andrew followed, dragging a blanket behind him and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Rachel leaned over and planted a kiss on Michael's crown. "I thought we would do something special today."

"Cool!" He ran to the table, his eyes big. "Look, Andy! Scrambled eggs!"

She lifted Andrew up and cuddled the sleepy little boy to her chest as Michael scooped the eggs onto his plate and began to dig in. Rachel giggled as she sat Andrew in his chair. "Don't choke! There's plenty where that came from."

He nodded and shoveled some food onto Andrew's plate. "Do you want some juice?" she asked peering into the refrigerator.

"Can I have some coffee?"

"Nice try!" She poured the boys a glass of orange juice each and prepared a cup of coffee for herself.

She watched them eat for a few minutes as she drank her coffee, wondering the best way to bring the up the subject. Figuring she should take the direct approach, she set her "Diva" mug down and smiled at them.

"So..." she began, their little faces turning to her in expectation. "There's something about today that we should talk about."

"Are you sad, Mama?" Andrew asked. He shifted up onto his knees in his chair and took a big bite of French toast.

"A little," she said. "I'm more thoughtful though."

Michael frowned and stopped mid-chew. "Why?"

She took a deep breath and gave Michael a sad little smile. "Because, I've been thinking about Daddy. It's been a whole year now, and I really miss him."

He looked away and stared down into his plate.

"Today doesn't have to be a sad day, though," she continued, taking his little hand in hers. She could tell by the way he was blinking furiously that he was trying not to cry. "I think today should be a special day to think about Daddy and how much we love him, don't you?"

Michael nodded reluctantly.

"Maybe we could do some of our favorite things that we all did together. We could go to the park and the zoo, have a picnic. What do you guys think?"

"Yeah," Michael said softly. "I think Daddy would like that."

Rachel smiled and pulled him to her side while Andrew clambered into her lap. She hugged them to her and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. "We're going to be okay," she murmured, peppering their faces with kisses. Andrew giggled while Michael ducked his head in embarrassment. Before he left the table, though, he turned and gave her a tight hug around the neck.

She sat at the table for a few moments after they went into their room and allowed herself to cry softly into her hand.

"Mama!" Andrew called from the bedroom.

She wiped her eyes quickly and cleared her throat. "Yeah, baby?" she asked, standing up and following after them.

* * *

It didn't take them long to get ready and she decided to splurge and hail a cab. They made their way around the zoo, Michael complaining that Andrew took too long at each of the different exhibits. Despite the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach, Rachel eventually found herself rising out of her gloomy mood and allowed herself to have a little fun.

True, her husband had died, leaving her a single mom in New York City, and true, she was living off of tips for the time being, but that didn't mean her life was over. If someone had asked her ten years ago where she thought she would be at this time in her life, she would have said Broadway in a heartbeat. And while she did still feel the occasional tug in her chest towards the Great White Way, she couldn't find it in herself to regret the decisions she had made, especially since Michael and Andrew were the result.

They ate lunch while watching a polar bear float along in his enclosure with a big rubber ball, which the boys got a kick out of. After they visited the penguins, Michael decided that it was time for them to find a snow cone vendor and head Bethesda Terrace, David's favorite spot in the park. They were walking along the Mall, taking their time when Michael stumbled over an errant shoelace. Taking him by the hand, she guided him to a bench and sat him down.

"We've got to work on your shoe tying skills, kiddo," she chastised lightly, bending over his foot. "You've got to pull them tight they don't come loose."

"Hey, Mama?"

"Mhmm?" she asked, retying his other shoe just for good measure.

"Andrew's getting away."

"What?" she gasped, looking to her side where he had just been standing. When she realized that her three-year-old was definitely missing, she jumped to her feet in a flash. "Oh my God! Okay… don't panic… which way did he go, Michael?"

Michael pointed and hopped off the bench. "Thatta way!"

She grabbed his hand and made her way through the crowd, trying not to freak out. "Andy?" she called, sure she saw his little form disappear between two people. "Andy! Get back here!"

She quickened her pace, dragging Michael along behind her, who protested loudly against being yanked around. Sure enough, the little turkey was running just ahead of them at full speed with no sign of stopping. Fortunately, they caught a break when he passed a man walking a huge animal; a dog, she was sure, but the thing could have been part horse. Andrew turned, momentarily distracted by the dog, when its owner stooped and quickly scooped the little boy up into his arms before he could get away.

"Andrew Lloyd Kutner," she panted, "don't you ever, _ever _do that to me again!"

"So, I take it he belongs to you?" the stranger asked, holding her son out to her.

"Yes," she said, looking up into her savior's face, "thank you so mu- guaf-F-F-Finn!" It certainly was not the graceful introduction she had always envisioned making if she ever ran into her ex, but thankfully, he seemed just as surprised to see her.

"Rachel?" he exclaimed, his eyes going wide. "Holy… Rachel!"

He laughed and pulled her into a big hug. "How in the world are you?"

Rachel, still shocked by the sight of a man she hadn't seen in more than seven years, stood stiffly and stared up into his face. Sure, she had seen him on _Sam in the City_, but it seemed so long ago when it was, in fact, only a year. Exactly a year to the day, which, in all honesty, gave her the chills.

"Mama," Michael said.

"I-I-I'm –"

"Mama!"

"What, baby?" she finally said, snapping out of it.

Michael scowled and hitched his thumb in Finn's direction. "_Who _is he?"

"That's – this is…" she trailed off, struggling to find a way to introduce her ex-boyfriend to her six-year-old.

"I'm Finn," he said, holding his hand out to Michael. "I'm an old friend of your mom's. What's your name?"

Michael looked Finn up and down, which was a feat considering his height compared to Finn's, before shaking his hand. "Michael," he answered finally.

"Nice to meet you, Michael. And this is…?" he motioned to the boy still in Rachel's arms.

"Andrew," Michael said since his mother was still too tongue-tied to answer.

"Hiya, Finn!" Andrew exclaimed, opting to slap Finn's palm instead of shaking his hand.

Somehow, Rachel was able to stop her gaping and gather herself during the exchange, and finally managed a smile. "Finn, I am so sorry," she gushed. "You caught me completely by surprise. It is so… _good_ to see you. How are you?"

"I'm good." He looked down the Mall and Rachel saw his Adam's apple bob up and down as he gulped uncomfortably.

"I can't thank you enough for catching Andrew. It's hard to keep up with him when I'm by myself. He's only lucky I don't believe in spanking," she said, bouncing Andrew slightly.

"Hey, yeah, no problem," he said with a shrug. "Just doing my civic duty, you know?"

Rachel smiled up at him reassuringly, she couldn't imagine how awkward he felt, but she could tell when he suddenly tensed up. He probably had somewhere to be and was too polite to let her know that she was holding him up.

"We were –"

"What are you –" they began in unison.

He chuckled nervously. "I was just taking Tank for a walk," he said, motioning to the behemoth next to him, "if you and the boys would like to join us, that's cool."

"Oh! We wouldn't want to keep you, if –"

"You're not keeping me from anything!" he said quickly. "I'd love to catch up, unless I'm keeping _you_ from something."

"Not at all! We were just looking for some snow cones and heading to the Terrace."

"Hey! Snow cones sound great! I think I saw a guy up there."

Rachel set Andrew down and grasped his hand tightly as they made their way up to the vendor in question.

"Hey, Michael," Finn said, holding out Tank's leash, "do you want to walk him?"

She could tell by the look in her son's eyes that he really wanted to when he looked up at her for permission, but she looked over at the dog and bit her lip.

"It's okay, he's really well trained," Finn told her. "I watched a lot of the _Dog Whisperer_ when he was a puppy. He won't run off with anybody's arm or anything." He grinned and held up his hand in a Boy Scout salute. "Promise."

"It's fine with me if you want to," she finally said.

"I wanna help!" Andrew cried out, struggling against her grasp.

"Nope!" Rachel pulled him back to her side. "You ran off in the middle of Central Park, sir. You're lucky I don't take you home right now."

He started to whine but when she gave him a stern look and squeezed his hand lightly, he stuck out his bottom lip and pouted in silence.

She watched as Finn showed Michael how to hold the leash and wrapped the loop around his wrist, tensing slightly when the dog, nearly eye level with Michael, walked forward and lapped her son a few times on the face for good measure.

"Finn," she said, placing a hand over her rapidly beating heart, "I hate to tell you this, but that animal cannot be canine."

"Sure he is! He's a Labradoodle."

"A what-a-doodle?"

"Part lab, part poodle! I got him from an animal rescue in Chicago. We've been buds ever since."

"Why'd you name him Tank?" Michael asked. "That's a weird name for a dog."

Finn shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Well, when I was in high school, my mom got married to a guy named Burt, and he promised her that he would get her a dog as a wedding present." Rachel ducked her head and grinned. She knew this story. "I was so excited because we had never had a dog before and I thought, you know, that she'd get a normal dog. Like a lab or a collie or something.

"So, they go off to get her puppy and when they get home, imagine my surprise to see that she picked out a little frou-frou dog about this big," he held up his hands to demonstrate the size. "It looked like a cotton ball! And to make things even worse, she named it Peanut! Can you believe that?"

Michael laughed and patted Tank on the head and Rachel could have sworn that he looked at Michael and grinned.

"After that, I promised myself that when I grew up and got my own place, I was going to get myself the biggest dog I could find and I was going to give him a _tough_ name."

"Oh, but you're leaving out the good parts!" Rachel cried out.

"Like what?"

"Like how you used to let Peanut sleep on your pillow. And the time he got out and you nearly cried because you were so worried about him. You _liked_ Peanut, admit it!"

She could tell he had to bite back his grin. "I never said I didn't like Peanut, I just don't think he's a real dog. I mean, Tank's part poodle, but look at him. There's not a wimpy bone in his body."

She looked up into his gaze and instantly regretted it. She hadn't thought it would be so easy to lose herself in his eyes like she did. At least, not after so long. For a moment she wasn't Rachel Kutner, she was just Rachel Berry and he was her Finn. He must have felt it too, because his face softened and his eyes took on a faraway look even as they stared at each other.

"Snow cone, snow cone, snow cone!" Andrew shouted, pointing at the vendor up ahead and effectively ruining the moment.

Finn tore his gaze away from Rachel's and clapped his hands together in excitement. "Awesome! What flavor does everybody want?"

"Mmm, bubblegum!" Michael announced.

"Good choice," Finn praised. "How about you, Andrew?"

Andrew twisted his little face up in thought and tapped his chin. "Blue!"

"Andy, blue's not a flavor," Michael said.

"Blue's my favorite too," Finn chuckled. "Rachel?"

Rachel, who was digging around her purse for her wallet, looked up. "Oh, none for me, thanks."

"Come on, you've got to have one too," he said. "It's my treat."

"That's okay, Finn, I've got it." She reached into her purse again but he stopped her with a hand to her shoulder.

"Rachel," he persisted. "I said _my_ treat."

There was something about his tone that made Rachel freeze and squint her eyes suspiciously. They hadn't spoken in years, but she did have to wonder how much he knew about her life now. "Okay, sure. I'll take a cherry, please."

* * *

Finn took a bite of his snow cone and gave Rachel a sideways glance as they walked in silence to the Terrace. Both boys were walking ahead of them now, her former ire with Andrew obviously put on the backburner. They were giggling as Tank eyed their snow cones solicitously, his tongue lolling to the side.

He had honestly acted on autopilot when he caught the rugrat running from his screeching mother, years of being the small town nice guy taking over. The last thing in the world that he had expected was the screeching mother to be _Rachel_. Not that it surprised him, he should have recognized her voice the moment her heard it.

How strange that he should run into her now; he had attempted to get in touch with her a few weeks ago, he really had, but it wasn't until later that he realized he didn't know her last name. And he had typed the most creative things into Google too, like "good looking lawyer killed in accident" and "Rachel Berry Weinstein," but he didn't find much. He figured he could always stop by the restaurant where she worked, but that seemed kind of stalkery, so he decided to wait until he could talk Kurt into joining him. It somehow seemed less weird if he didn't go alone.

He tried not to make it obvious that he was checking her out, but after seven years, he couldn't help himself. Except for the red syrup adorably staining her lips, she really hadn't changed all that much; she was still just as pretty as ever and her body was still... well... smokin'. She must of been one of those woman who bounced right back after having kids, but then again, she always used to have that strict workout regimen. Either way, everything was working out for her in that regard.

Her hair was a little shorter though, and maybe her cheeks were a little hollow, but the thing that got to him the most were her eyes. They had such a sad look in them, like the time she got egged by Vocal Adrenaline, but this time he was sure it wasn't a hurt that could be easily wiped away. It had been so simple then, to make her smile just to see her eyes light up.

And then there was that ring. He couldn't help but notice the bling adorning the ring finger of her left hand; it _was _the size of a golf ball, after all. Well, maybe not a golf ball, but it was freaking huge. He was pretty sure he could throw her in the Lake when they got there and she would sink right to the bottom. No, if it had been him, he would have gotten her something simple and classy because that's what she had told him she wanted back in high school. Back when they had their own plans…

They hadn't spoken of anything serious, she hadn't brought up her husband and he was definitely wasn't going to broach the subject, so he tried to think of something intelligent to say. But as usual, nothing came easily. Instead he nodded to her purse and said, "That's a pretty huge bag you've got there." He mentally kicked himself as soon as the words escaped his mouth; he'd obviously been spending too much time with Kurt if the first thing he could think of was her _purse_.

But in true Rachel fashion, she smiled and held it out for him to see. "I know it's a little large for everyday use, but it's a Louis Vuitton and I just couldn't bear to sell it when – when we moved. I can carry just about everything I need for the boys in it though, so it was worth it."

He nodded his head like he knew who Louis Vuitton was and shoveled a large scoop of snow cone into his mouth. It would probably be better if he didn't speak.

"Are you still working for _Sam in the City_?" she asked.

"Yeah. How'd you know that?"

"I actually saw you on TV a while back."

He choked down his snack in surprise. He _knew_ that was going to bite him in the butt one of these days. "Oh God! I can't believe you saw that!"

Rachel laughed. "Well, you couldn't expect me to miss _our_ New Directions performing on television, could you? Seeing you was only an added bonus."

"How embarrassing," he groaned. "You know, Mr. Schue gave a copy of that episode to my mom and she shows everyone who comes around the house. I don't think I can show my face around Lima again."

"Oh, it can't be that bad!" she giggled.

"Seriously, it is. Everybody thinks I'm this hotshot producer or something, like I run the show. Puck even asked if I could land him a job last time I saw him. I had to tell him I just make sure things don't fall apart when we're filming."

Rachel looked up at him, concern written across her face. "But… this is what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"Don't get me wrong! I like my job. _A lot_. I mean, the pay's good and Sam is awesome. She's really helped me out. We're trying to get the network to take us national and she's been putting me in the way of some pretty important people."

"Are you two…?" she trailed off. "I'm sorry, that's none of my business."

"Huh? You mean are we _together_?" he laughed. "No way! She's dating the Yankees' second baseman." Then, as an afterthought, he added quickly, "I-I'm not seeing anyone."

She didn't respond, just nodded her head noncommittally and took another bite of her snow cone.

Finally arriving at the Terrace, they circled the fountain so that they could enjoy the breeze coming off the Lake. Finn watched as Rachel set her cup down and primly tucked her dress underneath her before taking it up again. Smiling in contentment, she looked over at the boys only to let a shrill little squeal.

"No, Andrew, don't!" she fairly gasped as the little boy held his spoon out to Tank, who happily lapped up the proffered treat. Finn had to choke back a laugh as her face turned into a mask of what could only be described as abject terror when Andrew dipped the spoon back into his cup and took a big bite himself.

"Baby, do you know how unsanitary that is?" She began digging frantically around her purse and pulled out some wipes.

"It's cool, Rach," Finn said, trying to calm her. "He's got all his shots and I don't let him dig around in the trash or anything."

"Finn," she said as she wiped vigorously at Andrew's hands and face, "when it's your child who is sharing their food with a dog who undoubtedly licks himself, despite being trained in the ways of Cesar Milan, then you can tell me it's cool."

This time Finn didn't even bother to stop himself from laughing out loud. He had wondered if the old Rachel Berry was still down in there, but after her indignant tirade, he had no doubt that this was her. "Aw, give him a break! He's neutered; there's nothing there for him to lick that you need to worry about." He faked a grimace as he made a scissor motion with his fingers. "God have mercy on my soul," he joked.

Suddenly he froze and felt his face go red. Finally he had come up with something witty to say and, of course, it could totally be construed as more than a little insensitive. He only hoped that Rachel hadn't noticed. He spared a quick glance at her as she finished up with Andrew, giving him a new plastic spoon which she whipped out from that monstrosity of a bag, and sat back down.

"No more snow cone for Tank," she warned. "It might make him sick."

She didn't say anything for a second; she just looked quietly out at the Boathouse in the distance. "Finn, may I make an observation?" she finally asked.

He shrugged uncertainly and murmured quietly, "Um... sure."

"I've noticed a little bit of awkwardness on your part, which I easily attributed to the fact that we haven't seen each other in several years. I can only imagine the shock you must have felt upon running into me, with my children no less, in the middle of Central Park. A shock, which I assure you, I felt just as acutely. And then there's our history together..." she trailed off and let that sit in the air for a moment. "But judging from your reaction just now, to what I know was probably just a harmless joke on your part, leads me to believe... well..." She stopped and looked him straight in the eye before asking point blank in a soft voice, "You know about my husband, don't you?"

He honestly thought about playing dumb, but he knew that wouldn't fly. How was it that she could still see right through him after all this time? He had known in high school that Rachel was one of the only people who truly knew him and he guessed that was something that would never change, a fact that was as reassuring as it was annoying.

"Yeah," he stated simply.

She exhaled slowly and finally looked him in the eye. "Well, I guess this takes all the awkwardness out of me telling you that I'm a widow." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "May I ask how you know?"

Scratching the back of his neck in discomfort, Finn winced under her scrutinous gaze. "Um… Kurt and Mercedes saw you at the restaurant you work at. He kind of paid the hostess to tell them about you."

"I knew it!" she cried. "And I thought I had been so careful. I _saw_ them talking to her. I really should have known that's what they were doing when Ashley claimed that he had just been asking for her number."

Finn couldn't help but snicker at that, but his face fell when he saw the distant look in Rachel's eye. "Hey, you don't have anything to be ashamed of, Rach," he said. "There's no reason for you to hide from your friends."

"I know… it's just that I don't want anyone's pity. Although, Kurt probably thinks it's hilarious. 'How the mighty have fallen,'" she grumbled.

"He doesn't think that at all!" Finn exclaimed.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, maybe he did gloat a _little_ bit. But Mercedes is really concerned about you. And me."

"You're the last person I would expect to be concerned about me, you know, considering…" she shrugged and turned away from him.

"Considering what?"

"I always thought you were angry with me," she explained. "I'm the one who decided that we should take a break and then I started dating someone else practically right away."

This time it was Finn's turn to sigh deeply. "That was a long time ago. I mean, yeah, I was mad when I found out. For a long time even," he said. "I was more surprised than anything, though. I didn't even know that you were seeing someone else until your dad told me you were engaged. It kind of knocked the wind out of me."

He noticed that she was fiddling with her ring self-consciously and he reached out to still her hand. "But that was a long time ago, Rach. I knew you really had to love the guy for you to marry him like you did. I never, ever wished for anything like this to happen to you. All I ever wanted for you was to be happy."

"Thank you, Finn." She gently pulled her hand away and pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "And for what it's worth, I am sorry. I should have told you myself."

"It's all water under the bridge!" he said, forcing himself to sound more cheerful than he felt at the moment. Sometimes it really sucked being the bigger man. "We're adults now, we can be friends. And there's no reason why you have to go through this alone. It helps to have someone in your corner. Believe me, _I _would know."

"I really appreciate that."

They sat at the fountain a little while longer, finishing their snow cones and talking about their old friends and high school. Rachel didn't bring up her husband again, for which Finn was thankful; he was pretty sure he didn't have any advice to offer her that she hadn't heard a million times before. She did go on about Michael and Andrew though, and Finn could tell how proud she was of them.

Of the two, Michael was most like his father, she had told him without going into too much detail. He turned his attention to the boy, his interest peaked. He was a good looking kid and was probably going to be a good looking adult, what with his dark, almost black hair, straight brow, and Rachel's big brown eyes. He also had a little chip on his shoulder, but he was patient with Andrew for the most part, and seemed like a pretty good kid.

Finn, of course, had taken to Andrew immediately. He was more like Rachel in looks and was happy-go-lucky and funny. He was also smart as a tack and Finn was genuinely surprised when Rachel had told him that he was only three.

"Michael can argue himself out of a hole," Rachel laughed. "He's my lawyer. And Andrew's my little engineer."

Finn grinned and gave her a look of admiration. "You've got some real good kids, Rach. I'd be proud too if they were mine."

"You know, I thought you'd be married by now. Kurt had told me you were seeing someone in Chicago."

"Nah, it didn't work out."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Rachel responded sincerely.

He waved her off and shook his head. "It wasn't that big of a deal. We just wanted different things."

Rachel looked like she was going to say something else, but the rumble of thunder in the distance cut her off. "Are you kidding me?" she cried. "The weatherman didn't say anything about rain! I didn't even pack the boys' raincoats. And Andrew's just getting over the sniffles!"

"Hey, it's no biggie," Finn said, reaching up to unbutton his shirt.

"Finn, what are you doing?" she gasped as he took it off, leaving him in his undershirt.

He just smiled and turned to the boys. "Come here, Andrew!" he called. He knelt down and quickly helped the little boy push his arms through the sleeves and buttoned it up. He pulled the neck over Andrew's head just as it began to drizzle and laughed at the comical sight. His shirt fairly swallowed the little boy whole and dragged a few inches on the ground.

"It's not a raincoat, but it'll get the job done." He lifted Andrew up and handed him off to his mother before grabbing Tank's leash. "Alright, you ready to make a mad dash?" he asked.

He led them as quickly as he could to the street while the rain became progressively harder. As soon as they reached Fifth, he hailed them a cab and practically shoved the boys in. "What about your shirt?" Andrew asked, waving a long sleeve at Finn.

He looked over at Rachel, realizing that they hadn't exchanged numbers or anything. He took out his wallet, feeling a little douchey, and pulled out a business card.

"Here," he said. "It's my work number, but I'm there practically all the time."

"I really can't thank you enough, Finn," Rachel gushed. "Today was fun. I really needed it."

"Me too." He smiled. "Please give me a call. I'd really like to hang out with you again. And I'm sure Kurt and Mercedes want to see you too."

She looked a little uncertain but nodded.

"Hey, lady," the driver called, "you gettin' in or not?"

"I'd better go," she murmured, motioning to the taxi.

Finn stood to the side and held the door open for her as she slid in. Before he closed it behind her, though, something occurred to him and he leaned back down. "Hey, Rachel?" he asked. "What _is_ your last name?"

She giggled and he tried to ignore how the sound made his heart skip. "It's Kutner."

"That is totally not what Kurt said," he laughed, straightening up. He closed the door and waved as the cab took off.

When they were out of sight, he looked down at his wet mess of a dog, who looked back up at him, his blue-stained tongue lolling to the side, and thought of how awful his car was going to smell.

"Crap," Finn suddenly cursed, realizing he was parked on the opposite side of the park. But, despite the fact that he had to trudge back through the park in the rain and stick a wet dog on his leather seats, he couldn't find it in himself to regret not staying home. Not when he had the image of Rachel Berry – no, Rachel _Kutner_'s – smiling face keeping him company as he walked.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Sorry about the delay! I've had Rachel's part done for a few days, but Finn was really digging his heels in there for a while. I'm aiming for my next update to be this Friday or Saturday. In the meantime, please read and review!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	4. An Unhealthy Habit

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Three: An Unhealthy Habit**

Rachel had no clue what she was doing. Absolutely _no_ clue. Which was strange in itself; Rachel Kutner always did everything with a purpose. But as she held the shirt to her face and took another deep breath, she had to wonder if she was losing her mind.

It had started out innocently enough. It was just another Thursday evening; she had worked an early shift and had decided to wash Michael and Andrew's clothes in order to pack them up for their weekend with David's parents. She had gone down to the laundry room and began unloading the contents of her laundry basket into the washer, sorting as she went along, when she came across an unknown article of clothing. She held it up to inspect it and realized it was Finn's large, blue and white striped, button-up shirt that he had put on Andrew.

She had forgotten she had it. In all honesty, she had tried to block the day out of her mind all week. It had been too emotionally charged and there was just too much on her plate for her to be distracted by the reappearance of Finn Hudson. But now, as she held his shirt in her hands, she couldn't help but smile at the memory of how cute Andrew looked wrapped up in it and how sweet Finn had been with the boys all day. She didn't want to admit that it had been nice to have a little help and she certainly didn't want to think about how seeing Finn made her realize that she had actually missed him.

That's when it happened. She didn't know what made her do it, but all of a sudden, she was holding the fabric up to her nose and she was inhaling slowly and deeply.

Oh God! He still _smelled _the same. She had always _loved_ the way Finn smelled. Even when he was wearing cologne, which he rarely did, he always had that nice clean, _crisp_ smell to him. In high school, just one good whiff of him could make her knees buckle. It was that cool, clean smell that led to more than a few make out sessions in the empty choir room and one particularly frenzied romp in the auditorium projection room.

She blushed at the memory and moved to put the shirt down so that she could wash it with the other light colors when she changed her mind and held the shirt up to her face _again_. How long had it been since she had gotten a good dose of Finn? Probably well before they broke up, she thought with a frown.

It's not that she had fallen out of love with him or that he cheated on her or anything like that. It had just become too hard to miss him all the time. She had moved to New York the week after graduation, much to the consternation of her dads and Finn. He wanted her to stay in Ohio and go to school with him before she made such a big move. But she had stubbornly insisted that she had to strike while the iron was hot – Broadway needed young talent such as herself and every year lessened her chances of making it big.

So they tried the long distance thing. He had gotten into Ohio University ("the other OU," as he had jokingly called it) on a football scholarship, and when he learned that it was home to the prestigious Scripps School of Journalism, he knuckled down in a way that Rachel had never seen before in order to transfer in. She had helped him mend his ways academically during their last years at McKinley, but this just threw her off. He had been so proud of his 3.67 GPA after that first semester, telling her that it was all for the best and once he graduated, he'd be able to get a good job in New York. Then they would _both_ be making something of themselves.

But this new and improved Finn came with a price – on top of football, his fraternity, and school, he had barely any time to talk to her and they were only able to see each other five times over a six month period. She was constantly wondering what he was up to and worrying that he was forgetting her. The distraction became so intense that she even blew a couple of auditions because of it. Every time they spoke, she would nag at him in a way that she even made herself cringe. In short, she was becoming a person she didn't like. So, she instigated the break up.

He agreed, albeit reluctantly, that they should take a few months to sort themselves out and then he would come stay a couple of weeks with her during the summer. It never happened, obviously, and she hadn't heard from him since.

Rachel sighed. She always tried to avoid bouts of self-pity, but she couldn't help but wonder what her life would have been like if she had waited for Finn.

"Mama, what _are_ you doing?" Michael asked, rolling his yellow Tonka dump truck into the side of the washer. "Why do you have that shirt on your face?"

"Oh, uh, I was just… making sure it was dirty."

Michael looked up at her, nonplussed. "But it was in the dirty clothes."

"Hey, I have an idea!" she exclaimed, changing the subject. "How about you and Andy help Mama fold these darks? Doesn't that sound like fun?"

He gave her an unenthusiastic look and shrugged indifferently. She took a few moments to give them a crash course in Folding 101, before returning to the washer. She made sure that Michael wasn't watching before leaning over to sniff Finn's shirt one last time and throwing it in with the rest of their clothes. She was going to have to return his shirt as soon as possible before her little problem became unhealthy.

* * *

As luck would have it, she had an opportunity to return it to him the very next day. Maura and Benjamin came to pick the boys up right at eight o'clock (why Maura insisted on picking them up so early was beyond her) and she had the late shift that day, so she figured she could go drop it off at the studio. She tried calling around ten in order to make sure he didn't have any plans, but his line went directly to voicemail, stating that they were recording and he would be back at his desk after noon.

That was perfect! She could surprise him and, if he wasn't too busy, maybe they could grab a quick lunch. There was one particular vegan place that she really liked in Midtown that she hadn't been to in ages.

She decided to take her time and actually get ready today, something she hadn't done in months. It wasn't as if she were trying to impress Finn or anything; if nothing else, she would get more tips for looking nice. So she did her hair instead of just throwing it up into a ponytail and took the time to do her makeup. Not over the top, naturally, just a little eye shadow and mascara to make her eyes pop and some lip gloss. She hoped that she didn't look too waitress-y in her black skirt and white button up, but it wasn't as if she was wearing her apron, so as far as anyone could tell, she could be just another secretary. And Finn had liked her back when all she wore were knee-highs and animal print sweaters, so she doubted he would mind.

Grabbing his shirt and her bag, she made her way to the bus stop and hitched a ride going Midtown. It didn't take long for her to find the studio on Sixth and made her way into the building.

"Hello," she said to the security guard, giving him a friendly smile. "I'm here to see Finn Hudson. Could you point me in the direction of his office, please?"

"Name?" he barked. He took up a clipboard and looked at her with a bored expression on his face.

"Rachel Kutner, but I –"

"Your name's not on the list. Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but I –"

"You can't go up unless you're cleared."

Rachel took a deep breath and tried not to lose her temper. "Well, sir, I'm trying to surprise my friend. Surely you can understand that –"

"You can't go up unless you're _cleared_," he repeated.

She reached into her purse and pulled Finn's business card. "But, I have his card. So if you could please –"

"Look, I don't care if you have the head of the network's card in your purse. We've got a lot of celebrities and important people coming through here and for all I know, you could have found that card on the subway. You can't go up unless you're name is on the list."

"Fine, I'll just give him a call myself and see if he can clear me," she snapped, turning away from the desk. She sat down on a sofa a few feet away from the security desk and began digging frantically for her cell. After a few minutes, she threw her hands up in frustration; she'd obviously left it on the charger at home.

"Can't a girl catch a break?" she implored the ceiling.

The guard, who had been watching her with a barely perceptible grin on his lips, cleared his throat. "Look, miss, I can tell you don't mean any real harm, so here's what I'm going to do," he said. "I'm going to call Mr. Hudson and see if he'll clear you. If he says no, then you just head on home. How does that sound?"

"Would you?" she asked gratefully. She waited while the guard called up to Finn's office, speaking quietly into the phone. "Well?" she asked when he hung up.

"You can go on up. Third floor, the secretary will tell you where to go from there."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, _thank you_," Rachel gushed, pausing to look down at his name badge. "Earl, I really appreciate it."

She nearly skipped into the elevator and hit the button. She fidgeted nervously with her hair and straightened her blouse during the short ride. She really should have called before she left the apartment, she thought.

The elevator doors opened and directly ahead of her was a large receptionists desk. She was about to ask directions to Finn's office when she heard a familiar voice in the hallway.

"Rachel!" Finn called, a big smile on his face. "How's it going?" He leaned over to give her a hug and she held her breath as Eau de Finn assaulted her senses.

"I'm so sorry," she said quickly as he placed a hand at the small of her back and led her back down the hallway. "I should have called first. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Nope, not at all," he assured her, guiding her into his office. "I was just working on some paperwork. Have a seat," he motioned to a chair across from his desk. "Sorry about the mess."

She took a moment to look around; everything was so _Finn_. The office itself wasn't huge, but it was comfy and had a large window looking out to the street. His desk was littered with papers, but other than that, it was neat and tidy. He even had picture frames on the wall and on his file cabinets. He blended in perfectly with his casual slacks, untucked shirt, and scuffed up loafers.

"So, how are you doing? How are the boys?"

"Oh, we're all good. The boys are staying with David's parents this weekend so I've got the apartment to myself."

"That must be nice."

"Well… not really. You get used to the noise after a while and it's depressing when they're gone," she admitted. He frowned slightly and her heart dropped. She shouldn't be overwhelming him with her personal life. "Anyway, since I had a little free time on my hands before work, I wanted to drop off your shirt. I washed it for you."

"Oh, hey! Thanks, Rach." He took the shirt from her and set it on his desk. "It smells good," he commented.

"It must be my dryer sheets," she said lamely.

"Oh yeah? I'll have to get the brand from you later."

"Sure, I'll write it down for you before I leave."

They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment and Rachel had to wonder if the other day had just been a fluke. They hadn't had a moment like this since just after he had joined glee club.

"You didn't have to come all the way down here to leave it, I could have met you," he finally said.

"That's alright; I wanted to get out for a little bit. Have you had lunch yet?"

He grinned, which caused her to relax a little. "No, I haven't. There's actually this place I think you might like –"

"Down Ninth?" she asked excitedly.

He looked at her thoughtfully and nodded. "How is it that you can still read my mind?"

"I'm a little psychic, remember?"

"Yeah, that's probably it," he replied with a shrug. Suddenly, his phone rang and he furrowed a brow. "Hey, I've got to take this. Do you mind hanging on a second?"

"Oh, do you need me to step out?" She stood to wait outside, but he shook his head vigorously, already lifting the phone to his ear.

She took the opportunity to wander over and look at the pictures on his wall. There were a few of him with guests from the show, one of him walking his mom down the aisle at her wedding, and one from his college graduation. Decked out in his cap and gown and smiling broadly, he stood with his arms looped over the shoulders of a couple of his frat brothers, judging from their matching stoles. In addition, he wore a couple of ropes and she had to blink back a sudden rush of tears. He had graduated with honors.

She didn't know why she was surprised; she always knew Finn could do anything if he put his mind to it. But maybe she had underestimated his determination, which made her feel a little guilty. He had _always_ supported her one hundred percent of the time and she had to wonder if she had been too focused on herself and her own dreams to be that dedicated to him. It was an unpleasant thought and she sincerely hoped he didn't see it that way.

She turned to look at him, suddenly immensely proud of him. Catching her eye, he rolled his eyes towards the receiver and made a talking motion with his free hand. She moved on and looked at the pictures arranged on his file cabinets, pleased to see some she recognized – a snapshot of the '11-'12 New Directions, high school graduation, and a little 2 x 3 copy of their prom picture. She had felt like such a princess in her pink dress and on his arm. He really had been her Prince Charming back then.

Her breath caught in her throat, though, when she spotted the 4 x 6 of him and a pretty brunette posing on a beach directly behind it. Rachel had wanted to believe that maybe the girlfriend he had moved to Chicago with was mean and hateful like Quinn had been before she grew up, but with the light dusting of freckles dancing across the bridge of her nose, her laughing green eyes, and big smile, she could immediately tell that this girl was… well… _likable._ And they looked so cute together; she was just the right height for him and didn't look like a dwarf standing next to him at all.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, hanging up the phone. "One of our cameramen was freaking out about something the sound guy did."

He made a note and stuck it to the middle of his computer monitor. "I'll take care of it when I get back," he said mostly to himself. "You like my pictures?"

"Oh, yes. They're very nice."

"It wasn't my idea. My mom freaked out when I started working and insisted that I have pictures in my office. She bought all these expensive frames and guilted me into putting them up." He stood up and walked up behind her. He smiled and picked up the small picture of them. "Our prom picture, that's a good one. You looked great in that dress."

Rachel felt her face go red. "You didn't look half bad yourself."

"Aw, I hated that penguin suit," he said self-depreciatively. "I only wore it so I wouldn't look like a slob compared to you." He set the picture back down and straightened the photo behind it. "My mom still has the big copy up at her house."

"Was that the girl you lived in Chicago with?" Rachel asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Um, yeah. That's Audra. She's a great girl, you would have liked her, I think."

"I'm sure I would have," Rachel said. But deep down she was bitterly thinking that she would have loved to see _Audra_ get eaten by lions.

"Hey, do you want to meet Sam before we go to lunch?"

She looked up at him in surprise. "I don't know, Finn, I'm not really dressed and –"

"Come on!" he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out into the hallway. "She's really nice, I promise. And she loves to meet new people."

Rachel tried to protest as he fairly dragged her towards the back of the building, pointing out different offices and how to get to the studio. They finally reached another receptionists desk and Finn smiled at the girl sitting there. "Hey, Abby. Is Sam busy?"

Abby looked up from her computer and wrinkled her nose. "Nah, she's clear. She's got that meeting with the network execs in a little while though, so you'll want to make it short."

"No problem," he replied and guided Rachel to a set of double doors. He knocked swiftly before pulling one open and led her inside.

Samantha Sullivan was reclining at her desk, her stilettoed feet propped up on the light wood, reading some paperwork. "Finn Hudson!" she cried when she saw him. She put her paper down and set her glasses to the side. "Just the man I was thinking of. And who is this? A lady friend?"

Finn chuckled and pushed Rachel forward. "Sam, this is my friend Rachel Kutner."

She stood and shook Rachel's hand heartily. "Nice to meet you!" She sat back down on the edge of her desk and crossed her long legs. "So, how do you and Finn know each other?" she asked, getting right to the point.

"You know that little clip you like to torture me with? The one of me in high school?" Finn clarified, to which Samantha smirked devilishly and nodded. "Well, this is the girl singing with me."

Her eyes grew big and she gave Rachel a quick once over. "You're joking!" she exclaimed.

Rachel could feel her face burning but she plastered her best smile on her face and nodded.

"Rachel, I can't tell you enough but I think you. are. _amazing_!"

"Thank you," she managed to choke out.

"Seriously, I'm no talent agent, but I keep tabs on what's going on in the theater circuit and you were definitely better at 18 than anybody onstage now. So tell me, what are you doing now? Do you still sing?" She looked over at Finn and clapped her hands eagerly. "This is _so _exciting!"

"Well, I'm a mom now, so –"

"Oh, I see!" Samantha leaned over, her chin in her hands. "Family over a career, I get it. I doubt I'll ever give it a try, but they do say parenthood is a reward in itself."

"Yes, it is."

"Now, there's something I need to know. Finn won't answer me when I ask but," she motioned between the two of them with her finger, "you two had a little thing going on, didn't you?"

Rachel cast Finn a quick glance, but he didn't meet her eye. "Well, um, I suppose so. You know, high school sweethearts and all that jazz."

"That's what I thought! See, Finn, there's no use in denying it. I'm very good at reading between the lines and you two definitely had chemistry." She stopped and squinted her eyes at them before adding, "In fact, you two definitely still _have_ some chemistry.

"Anyway," she continued before either Finn or Rachel could comment, "let me give you my card, Rachel. I know a few directors and producers, so if you ever decide you want to try your hand at Broadway, I can put in a good word for you."

"Thank you," Rachel said meekly, taking the card from her outstretched hand. For some reason, meeting with Samantha was making her feel a little dizzy, not unlike the way David often made her feel.

"There are plenty of moms out there and it'd be a shame if you let that voice go to waste."

Finn stood and motioned to the door. "We'd better get out of your way," he said. "I know you've got that meeting with the execs in a little while."

"Oh! About that," Samantha said, "Brent can't make it to the meeting with me, so I would really like you to sit on it instead. If you didn't have any plans, of course."

Finn looked at Rachel and opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Rachel hastily cut in, "No, we don't have any plans."

He tilted his head to the side and cocked an eyebrow before turning back to Samantha. He seemed to struggle with a reply before finally answering. "Um… yeah, I guess that's cool. What time are you heading up?"

"In about 15 minutes," she said, looking at her watch.

"Let me just walk Rachel down and I'll meet you upstairs then."

Samantha smiled widely and held her hand back out to Rachel. "It was such a _pleasure_ to meet you, Rachel."

"You too," Rachel mumbled and hurried out of the room with Finn on her heels. She suddenly felt very unsure about coming to his office. Yes, this was Finn and she knew he would always be kind a polite to her, but this was a man she didn't know. This was Finn with a job and responsibilities and important meetings with network executives. He had an entire life she didn't know about and when she thought about it, he knew just as little about her. She had initially feared that letting someone else into her life would make it more complicated than it already was, but she hadn't stopped to think about how _she_ could complicate _his_ life. He didn't need a widow with two little boys hanging around.

"Are you alright?" he asked, matching his long stride with hers. "I really don't mind telling her that we have plans."

"I'm fine," she chirped shortly. "That just seemed like a good opportunity for you and I'd hate for you to miss it on my account."

"Well, yeah," he agreed. "But there will be plenty of other meetings for me to sit in on. And you came all this way."

"It's no big deal," Rachel insisted. "I'll just go to work and see if I can pick up a few extra hours."

Finn didn't look like he believed her. "How about I take you to dinner then?"

"Oh, I really don't think I'll have the time this weekend. I'm working late tonight, I've got double shifts tomorrow, and the boys come home on Sunday, so I'll be pretty busy."

"How about next week then?" he persisted. "That way the boys can come too."

They reached the elevator and she pushed the down button a few times. "Well, I don't really know what my schedule looks like for next week."

"So you'll let me know." He whipped out his cell phone and looked at her expectantly. "What's your number?"

She absently gave it to him and nearly squealed with delight when the elevator doors opened. "I can see myself down from here," she said, stepping in. "Thank you so much for everything, Finn. It was really nice meeting Samantha."

He stopped the doors from closing with his foot. "It's no problem, Rach."

She smiled sadly and stepped forward to give him a hug, taking one last sniff for posterity's sake. Yeah, this could definitely become an unhealthy habit. "I'll see you around, Finn."

"I'll send you a text so you'll have my number," he said, finally standing back so the doors could close. "Take care, Rachel."

The last thing Rachel saw as the doors closed was him shoving his hands in his pockets dejectedly, a disappointed look in his eye. This was for the best; he made her feel like she was in high school all over again, and that was something neither one of them needed. It would be acceptable for them to see each other time to time, but she couldn't allow him to become a considerable part of her life. The time for that had come and gone and now it was time for them to go back to their own separate lives.

She waved at Earl as she exited the building. When she got out to the street, she realized she was still clasping Samantha Sullivan's business card tightly in her hand. She stopped for a moment and stared down at it. Seven years ago, maybe even three or four, certainly before David died, she would have jumped at the opportunity to fulfill her lifelong dream. But now she just wasn't sure if she even fit into that world anymore.

Remembering Earl's words earlier about finding a card on the subway, Rachel made sure to rip it up into several small pieces before tossing it into the first trash receptacle she came across.

* * *

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	5. Unsolicited Advice

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Four: Unsolicited Advice**

"Rachel," Maura Kutner said, delicately patting at her mouth with a silk napkin, "there are a few things I would like to discuss with you."

Rachel groaned inwardly. She had agreed to meet her in-laws for brunch in order to pick up the boys, and while the meal had started out pleasantly enough, she had a feeling that it was about to take a negative turn.

"Do we really have to do this now, Maura?" Benjamin asked, not bothering to look up from his newspaper.

Maura ignored her husband and looked at Rachel archly. "The boys informed me that you chose to take them out celebrating on the anniversary of David's…" She cast a glance over at the boys to make sure that they weren't listening before leaning over to whisper, "…death."

Rachel set down her fork, her appetite for the fruit salad in front of her now gone. "Maura, I can assure you that I did nothing of the sort."

"Well, what would you call gallivanting around Central Park as if you didn't have a care in the world? If you wanted to observe the day, there were a number of other suitable activities that you and the boys could have participated in. I know for a fact that Rabbi Dweck would have been more than happy to sit down with you in order to think of some other options."

"I'm sorry, Maura, but I just don't think you understand what my intentions were. I wanted to do something that we liked to do together as a family. I didn't mean any disrespect."

"Oh?" she said. "Then how do you justify spending the day with another man?"

"Ex-excuse me?" Rachel gasped. She looked over at Michael and he met her gaze with a steady one of his own before turning back to his new coloring book. That little _turd_.

"They told me all about it, how you met up with this Flynn fellow –"

"It's _Finn_."

"– and how you spent the afternoon with him."

"It wasn't like that at all!" Rachel protested. She absolutely hated how Maura could make her feel like a child. "He's just an old friend that we ran into at the park."

"I really don't think it is appropriate for you to be bringing strange men around the boys so soon after David's passing."

"Maura, not that it's any of your business and I cannot _believe_ that I am stooping so low as to defend myself against these unfounded accusations, but I can assure that I am _not_ seeing Finn in a romantic capacity. Like I said before, he is just an old friend who was very, _very_ nice to me and the boys on a day when we really needed it. And, not that it matters, I doubt we'll be seeing very much of him in the future."

She paused to take a deep breath before quickly adding, "And even if I was seeing Finn _that_ way, I would say that a year of mourning would satisfy even the most stringent of social decorum."

"Darling," Maura sighed, "I'm not saying that you can't have friends. I'm just suggesting that you should be a little more discerning about who you bring around my grandchildren. We don't even know who this man is."

"But _I _know who he is. And they are _my _children."

"Children you can hardly take care of on your own, Rachel. Do you think it's good for them to be living in that tiny apartment while you work as a waitress?"

"I wouldn't have to work as a waitress if you would just let me sell the house."

"No," Maura said stubbornly. "We've had this discussion. That house was David's legacy and the boys have every right to do with it as they wish. Besides, it was Benjamin's mother's home and it would just break my heart to see it leave the family."

"You hated my mother," Benjamin replied from behind the paper. "And the deed _is_ in Rachel's name now."

"I did _not_," Maura hurried to say, actually looking a little frazzled. "Anyway, Rachel, I'm just asking you to consider what I'm saying. I understand that you want to live your own life; it's just obviously overwhelming for you and Benjamin and I are only here to help."

"Well, I truly thank you for the unsolicited advice, Maura," Rachel said wryly. "I'll let you know if we need anything."

"There is one more thing I wanted to discuss with you."

"Yes?"

"We've rented a house in Nantucket for the week of the 26th and we would like to take the boys with us. We would pick them up as usual the Friday before and have them to you the following Sunday. What do you think?"

"I don't know. You know how Andy gets when he's been away from me for too long."

"He's been much better lately. Why, he didn't give me any problems this weekend. And there will be other children there for the boys to play with. Benjamin's sisters are joining us with their children and grandchildren."

"Oh, that's nice," Rachel lied. She hated David's cousins and their kids were just as horrible.

"I really want to go, Mama," Michael said.

"Me too," Andrew chimed in.

"Think about it. It will be good for you; you can have a little time for yourself to relax and not worry about the boys."

Oh yes, a week of pulling double shifts and coming home to an empty apartment just sounded _delightful_.

"It's not as if you are able to take the boys on a vacation right now anyway; they deserve to have a little fun over their summer break," Maura said, digging the metaphorical knife in a little more and twisting it for good measure.

Rachel didn't want to admit that Maura was right, but it was for the boys. And she was pretty sure that spending so much time at Mrs. Nedry's was giving Andrew allergies. "Sure," she finally allowed. "I don't see why not. It sounds like they'll have lots of fun."

Maura gave a satisfied smile and took a sip of her water. "See, aren't things so much nicer when we all get along?"

* * *

"Aren't things so much nicer when we all get along?" Rachel mimicked quietly as she stirred the sauce for their dinner that night. What was it about Maura Kutner that made her feel like an incompetent child? She just hated how she continually used Michael and Andrew to manipulate her. What infuriated her even more, though, was that try as she might, Rachel had no idea how to end it.

"Andrew, _stop_ it!" she heard Michael snap from the living room.

"Hey!" she called. "What's the problem?"

"Andrew's coloring too hard with our new crayons and he keeps snapping them!"

"Well then I'll buy you a new box. It's no big deal."

Michael made a face. "But you always buy us the small boxes. This one has 96 colors in it!"

"Michael," she said in exasperation, "what is up with this little attitude you've had lately?"

"What attitude?"

"_That_ attitude," Rachel pointed out. "You never used to be so rude with me and I really don't appreciate it. I have enough to worry about with work and making sure that you and your brother don't kill each other to put up with your disrespectful manners. I don't have the time or the energy. So knock it off or say goodbye to Nantucket. Do you understand me?"

"That's no fair!" he protested.

"And the way you're treating me is fair? I'm sorry Michael, but if things don't change around here, you'll have to stay with Mrs. Nedry all week while Andy goes with Bubbe and Granddad."

"I'm sorry," he grumbled into his coloring book.

"Look, baby," she said, setting the sauce on simmer, "I know things are tough right now, but we've got to stick together. I need you just as much as you need me, and our family doesn't work if we're not getting along, okay?"

Michael nodded but didn't meet her eye.

"And one other thing," she added. "I don't think you need to report everything we do back to Bubbe."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what we do here with our own time, that's our business. She doesn't have to know every single thing we do every single day that we don't see her. Just like how we don't know what she and Granddad do all the time. Or what Grandpa and Pops do out in Ohio," Rachel explained.

"So what am I supposed to do if she asks?"

"Well, I don't want you to _lie_." She paused to think of a good example. "Okay, let's just say that we go out to dinner three times in one week and Bubbe asks what we did. So, we just say we went out to dinner. And if she asks where, we tell her one of the places we went. And if she asks with whom, we say it was just the three of us. See! It's easy."

Michael looked unsure and was about to respond when Rachel's cell phone began ringing on the coffee table. "I got it!" Andrew cried.

"Andy, just leave it," Rachel said, heading back to the kitchen. She was checking on the pasta when she heard Andrew's chipper voice.

"Hello? …no, it's Andrew! Who's this?"

"Andrew," she hissed. "I told you not to answer!"

"Hiya, Finn!" Andrew giggled, causing Rachel's heart to skip a beat.

"Why is _he_ calling here?" Michael asked.

"Andy, give Mama the phone," she ordered as she reached for it, but he ducked out of her reach. She almost tripped over Michael, who was right on her heels.

"How did he get our number?" he demanded.

"Michael, what is your problem? Seriously, you liked him the other day," she commented, trying to corner Andrew who was having a rip roaring good time with Finn on the phone. Who knew what Finn was saying to him, but he was laughing hysterically at whatever it was.

"Ha!" Rachel laughed triumphantly when she grabbed the little boy around his waist. "Gotcha!" It took her a moment to wrestle the phone out of his hands.

"Hello?" she gasped upon finally freeing the phone from Andrew.

Finn was chuckling on the line and it took him a moment to answer. "Hey, Rach. What's going on?"

"Oh you know, cooking dinner, tackling three year olds to the floor. The usual."

"Mom," Michael shouted. "Mom, mom!"

"What is it, baby?"

"You didn't answer my question! Why is he calling?"

"Hang on just a second, Finn," she said, placing her hand over the mouthpiece. "Michael, I am on the phone. Now will you settle down and watch your brother for a minute?"

She walked to her bedroom, Michael still right behind her. "Is this one of those things I'm not supposed to tell Bubbe?" he asked as she shut the door in his face.

"I'm sorry; it's just a little crazy around here at the moment."

"I can tell," he replied. "You can call me back later if you need to."

"Oh no, I have a minute! What's up?"

She heard Finn clear his throat. "Well, you never called me about your schedule," he said seriously.

"What's that?"

"So we can figure out when I can take you and the boys to dinner," he reminded her.

"Oh, that…" she trailed off. She was hoping he had forgotten about that. Although it did sound delightful, even with Michael acting like such a brat all of a sudden. "Well, I'm working double shifts on Monday and Tuesday and those _really_ wear me out –"

"Rachel," Finn interrupted, "stop trying to blow me off. I don't know what happened on Friday to scare you, but I want to take you, Michael, and Andrew out and I won't stop bugging you until you agree. Now when's your next night off?"

Rachel felt her temper flair up slightly. Just who did he think he was? But instead of telling him what's what, she sighed and shuffled around in her purse for her weekly schedule. "I'm working the early shift on Wednesday," she said, "and I'm off on Thursday and Sunday."

"Great! I know this great Italian place and then maybe we can take the guys to see a movie or something. There's a new Disney movie with singing anteaters."

"They're aardvarks, actually," she laughed.

"So are you in?" he asked hopefully.

She bit her lip and tried to think of a good excuse but Michael chose that moment to begin banging on her door. "Mom! Where's dinner? I'm hungry!"

Screw it, she thought.

"You know what, Finn? That sounds like fun."

* * *

Finn took a big bite of his ice cream cone before it could melt down his hand and grinned widely at Rachel. He hadn't had this much fun without drinking in probably… well, he couldn't remember. He had actually looked forward to tonight all week and his workday seemed to drag on and on. Usually he was one of the last to leave, but he managed to sneak out at four thirty so he could rush over to his apartment and straighten up before Rachel and the boys showed up. He even managed to squeeze in a quick walk for Tank.

He had taken them to this Italian restaurant where the waiters and cooks did all sorts of tricks and stuff with the dough and pasta like in that movie _Big_. He had found it a few months back but hadn't actually gone because he didn't want to seem like a creeper, but Michael and Andrew gave him the perfect excuse to finally go.

Rachel really seemed to be enjoying herself too, which was a great relief. He honestly had no idea what caused her to freak out the last time they met, but he wasn't going to let her get away with one of her fits and leave him in the dust for no good reason. He tried to replay the encounter in his head in order to pinpoint _exactly_ when she started acting weird.

Maybe it was when she saw that picture of him and Audra in the Bahamas. Not that it really should have been a big deal, he and Rachel had been broken up for a long time before he even started dating Audra and it wasn't as if they were still seeing each other. In fact, he was pretty sure Audra was getting married to someone else, which didn't bug him in the least. But he did try and take a step back and see things from Rachel's point of view. He was pretty sure he wouldn't feel too hot if he saw pictures of her and David.

Andrew was skipping ahead of them giving them a play-by-play on everything that had happened that evening, his face covered in vanilla ice cream. "And then, did you see it when he caught all that dough in his mouth?"

"We were all there," Michael groused.

"Michael!" Rachel snapped for probably the zillionth time that evening and gave him a pretty dangerous look that made Finn cringe.

"Sorry about that," she said, looking back up at him. "He's been a real nightmare since he's been back from his grandparents."

"It's cool." Finn didn't know what was up with Michael; he had hardly cracked a smile all evening and kept making all sorts of sarcastic comments. He had to wonder what the kid's problem was, the restaurant that he had taken them to was _awesome_, he had bought them ice cream, and now they were going to see a movie; none of the guys his mom went out with did things like that for him. Well, except for Burt.

Not that he and Rachel were dating – wait a minute, that was it! Michael thought he was trying to move in on his mom! He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't scare off any of the more douchey of his mom's boyfriends. He got that.

Of course, this made him stop and think about _what_ exactly he was doing with Rachel. He doubted she was looking for anything serious, but it was like there was this string pulling him to her and he had this strong need to be there for her. He wasn't going to take anymore than she had to give, and if that meant they were just friends, then that was it. And if it turned into something else, then they would cross the bridge when they got there.

He gave himself a mental pat on the back for that one; that was some pretty insightful stuff. He loved it when he surprised himself.

Rachel giggled and tilted her head, the straw to her smoothie at the corner of her mouth. _Damn_ if she didn't look cute!

"What'd I do?" he asked, wondering if he had ice cream on his face or something.

"I was just thinking that every time I've seen you, you're either eating or thinking about eating."

"Oh," he laughed awkwardly. "Well, you know me, I'm always hungry."

"It's nice to know that some things don't change," she said a little sadly.

"You okay, Rach?"

"It just scares me a little. That we can get together like this and it's like we're in high school again, then I suddenly remember that it's really been seven years and you have this whole other life that I don't know about." She looked down at her feet. "I-I should have kept in touch."

"Aw, you didn't miss much," he said, trying to make the sad look on her face go away, "just a few frat parties and the Windy City. Which _sucked_ by the way… Chicago, not the frat parties. Those were actually kind of fun."

She laughed, thank goodness. "So you wouldn't recommend moving to Chicago?"

"Not at all. If you think winter in Lima was tough, I _dare_ you to see if you could survive a Chicago winter," he said with a shudder.

She smiled around her straw as she took a sip of her smoothie. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Really though, I wouldn't worry about it Rach. It's not like I'm going anywhere; we have all the time in the world to catch up."

Rachel nodded, considering what he had said. "Yeah, I suppose we do."

"Hey, Finn!" Andrew shouted, catching him around the legs.

He polished off his ice cream cone before leaning down to hoist Andrew onto his shoulders. "What's up, bud?"

"Have you ever been to Nah-tucket?" he asked.

"To where?" Finn asked, turning to Rachel in confusion. Big mistake. She was looking up at Andrew with a small smile playing at her lips, looking so perfect and happy in that one moment, that his heart nearly stopped right there in his chest.

"It's Nantucket, sweetie," she corrected softly.

Finn struggled a moment to find his voice before croaking hoarsely, "Nope, I've never been there."

"They're going with their grandparents in a couple of weeks," Rachel explained.

"My _dad's_ parents," Michael chimed in. Yeah, this kid totally had it out for him.

"You're not going?" he said to Rachel, ignoring Michael's little jibe.

"No… I have work and it's mostly David's family anyway."

"So? You can't get any time off? And they're your family too, right?"

Rachel cleared her throat uncomfortably and focused on the cup in her hands. "Well… I wasn't really… invited."

"What?" Finn scoffed. They were in sight of the theater now, so he put Andrew back down and let him run ahead with Michael. "But they're _your_ kids."

"I know," Rachel groaned. "It's just that… well… I don't want to burden you with my problems, Finn."

"Knock it off, Rach," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You're not being a burden or irritating me or anything like that. If you were, I'd let you know. So just talk to me."

"You would not."

"Oh yeah? Well, you're annoying me right now by not telling me what's bugging you," he griped. "How was that?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, but he could tell she was more amused than irritated. "It's just another way that my mother-in-law uses the boys in order manipulate me. She wants us to move in with her so that she can control our lives."

"Why?"

"I don't know. She's been like this since day one and I just don't know how to put an end to it."

"You could tell her no," Finn suggested lightly.

She sighed. "I know I could, but she's David's mother and in the long run it would be Michael and Andrew who would suffer if I got on her bad side."

"You have to do what's best for them," he murmured more to himself than her. It was hard to reconcile the fact that Rachel really wasn't her own person anymore. Michael and Andrew were truly, one hundred and ten percent, her number one priority, no questions asked.

"Oh! Hang on a second," she called to the boys as her phone went off in her purse. She pulled it out and raised an eyebrow upon seeing the caller ID. "It's my sitter," she said. "Do you mind watching them for a second?"

"Sure," he said, taking her smoothie from her. He stood off to the side with the boys and waited as she took the call. He looked down at them and almost had to laugh when they both looked up at him with matching expressions. Sometimes little kids reminded him of Tank.

He looked at Rachel's smoothie in his hands, and his curiosity getting the best of him, he took a quick sip.

"Ew!" Michael cried. "You just _drank _out of my _mom's_ cup."

"It's good," he commented, causing Andrew to giggle. At least one of them found him funny.

"Shoot!" he heard Rachel exclaim and he turned to look at her.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot," she said again, stamping her little foot as she did so.

"What's wrong?"

"That was Mrs. Nedry, the woman who watches the boys for me while I'm at work," she said. "She's going to Boston to see her daughter this weekend. I'm off on Sunday, so that's no big deal, but I'm pulling a double shift on Saturday. Crap! Now I'm going to have to call my mother-in-law…"

"Hey!" Finn said and put his hand on her phone to keep her from dialing. "_I_ can watch them."

Rachel looked up at him uncertainly. "You?"

"Well… _yeah_. I'm good with kids. We get along, right guys?"

"Yup!" Andrew said. Michael didn't respond, but he didn't object either, so Finn took that as some sort of improvement.

"I can take them out to do something and then take them back to your place. It's no big deal," he insisted. "Really."

"Are you sure? They can be a handful. Believe it or not, this is probably their best behavior."

"Sure I'm sure," he laughed. Then an idea dawned on him. "Oh! I know what we can do! Have you guys ever been to a baseball game?"

"No," Rachel said for them. "David never got a chance to take them."

"Well, that's settled then! The Yankees are playing the Mariners on Saturday and I can _always_ get good tickets."

"Isn't that exciting guys?" Rachel said, her smile actually reaching her eyes.

Andrew seemed happy enough but Michael just looked Finn dead in the eye and said, "We're Mets fans."

Thankfully Rachel didn't seem to hear him, so Finn plastered a big smile on his face and took a moment to bask in her happy gaze. "Yup, this is going to be _great_."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I'm sorry that the last chapter was such a downer! I hope that this one makes up for it! I promise that I'm a sucker for happy endings; the characters just have to earn them first. :-)_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	6. America's Pastime

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Five: America's Pastime**

"You have got to be kidding me," Jer announced when he opened the door to find Finn standing there with Michael and Andrew. "Did you sign us up for some Big Brother Big Sister thing or something?"

"No," Finn grumbled as he pushed passed his friend and walked into the foyer. He was still feeling a little off after being in Rachel's apartment; not only was the place a total rat trap, but he now knew firsthand how awkward it must have been for her to see pictures of him with Audra. That place was practically a shrine to David Kutner.

Of course, he was pretty sure there was no comparison between her seeing a picture of him and his ex in the Bahamas and him seeing one of her looking so _happy_ and beautiful on her wedding day. Or the one of her looking tired but _happy_, holding a baby Michael in the hospital with David grinning proudly at her side. Or that other one of her and David _happily_ hugging the boys between them at the _exact_ same spot that they had eaten their snow cones in the park. He felt like he had been kicked in the gut. And, damn it, David really _was _good looking.

"Well, what's up with the little people? And why are they wearing Giants jerseys?"

"Our mom doesn't know the difference between baseball and football," Michael said.

Jer shook his head in bewilderment. "When you asked if I wanted to go to the game with you and a couple of friends, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

Finn sighed and placed Andrew on the floor. "I'm just helping a friend out. But you can't tell Kurt."

"I can't tell Kurt what exactly? He's _here_."

"You said he was taking a spa day with Mercedes!"

"Yeah," Jer laughed, "but it's only eleven fifteen. Did you honestly think he's going to get up at eight on a Saturday just for a bikini wax?" He led them to the living room and plopped down on the sofa, the remote in hand.

Finn shuddered at the mental image. "TMI," he groaned.

"Maybe that's why we work so well together," Jer said off-handedly. "He's pretty much a chick."

"Dude!" Finn hissed, pointing at Michael and Andrew. "Kids."

"Are you gay?" Michael asked and Finn felt his face go beet red.

"What the… Finn! Where did you find these kids?"

"It's okay," Michael said. "We have two gay grandpas."

Jer was speechless for a moment and opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally responding, "Well, do they at least have names?"

"Michael, Andrew, this is Jer; Jer, meet Michael and Andrew."

"Hark! Do I hear the dulcet sounds of Finn Hudson?" Kurt called from the bedroom. Finn could hear him and Mercedes talking as he got ready and saw Kurt's sweater-clad Chihuahua, Pablo, peek out around the corner.

"Wow!" Andrew exclaimed. He made a grab for Pablo, but the little dog skittered over to Jer, his tail tucked between his legs. "What kinda dog is that?"

"It's a sewer rat," Finn said, heading to the kitchen to get something to drink. He really wanted a beer right about now but he didn't know what Rachel's policy was on drinking in front of her kids, so he grabbed a bottled water instead. He had really been hoping that Kurt wasn't going to be around so he could avoid the game of 20 Questions that he knew was coming.

"He's a _Chihuahua_. And he's my baby, so don't be a jerk," Jer scolded, scooping Pablo up and letting him lick his face.

"Does Tank like him?"

"No," Jer said with a grin, "but Pablo likes Tank."

"That's because he spends too much time with you and Kurt," Finn commented, leaning over the bar. Pablo had a penchant for humping Tank when he was around. Tank, for the most part, seemed pretty confused by it all and steered away from the smaller dog whenever possible.

"Hey, Finn," Mercedes said, coming out of the bedroom. "Whose kids?"

"That's what I've been asking him and it's kind of starting to worry me that he hasn't answered me yet," Jer said. He turned to Michael and raised an eyebrow. "Do you know this man? Do we need to call the cops? You don't have to be afraid, just blink once for no, twice for yes."

Finn watched out of the corner of his eye, _daring_ Michael to blink, but he just smiled and ducked his head bashfully. "No_ooo_."

Kurt flounced of the bedroom, stopping short when he saw the children in his living room. "See, this is why I told you not to feed strays," he said wryly, "they'll follow you home. Or in this case, to _my_ home." Then he crossed his arms and glared at his step-brother. "Where did you get these children, Finn?" he demanded.

"Okay, _okay_!" Finn cried. "They're Rachel's."

"_What_?" Mercedes and Kurt snapped in unison while Jer looked back and forth between them in confusion.

"Which Rachel?" he asked. "The ex-girlfriend Rachel?"

"J-Jer!" Finn sputtered when Michael's little head snapped in his direction. "Little pitchers have big ears, dude!"

"Oh my God!" Mercedes gushed. "Kurt, these are Rachel's _babies_. They're so cute!"

"Fascinating," Kurt drawled, looking unimpressed.

She pulled Andrew into her arms. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Finn, _kitchen_," Kurt ordered and Finn rolled his eyes. It was an open floor plan, so he didn't know how much privacy Kurt expected them to have.

"_What_ are you doing?" Kurt asked when he rounded the island.

Finn took a seat on the countertop and took a long swig from his water bottle. "I ran into Rachel at the park a couple weeks back and we've _kind of_ been talking," he admitted. At that, Kurt raised an inquisitive brow and Finn hurried to clarify himself, "_Not_ in that way. She's had it tough – _really _tough. I think even worse than me and my mom ever had it. She doesn't have anybody to help and she's all alone here."

"So you thought you'd be her knight in shining armor and _do what_? I don't know what you're thinking, Finn, but whatever it is, it's a bad idea."

"Look, I'm just helping her out. The lady who usually watches the boys bailed and her mother-in-law is evil or something, so I offered to take them to a game. How is that a bad thing?"

"You're becoming too involved. If it is as innocent as you say it is, what do you think is going to happen one of these days if she starts seeing someone? Or if you do? Those little boys are going to get attached to you and all you're going to end up doing is confusing them even more."

"What the hell, Kurt! You're the one who suggested I 'get some action,' or am I remembering that incorrectly?"

"Finn, you really can be dense sometimes," Kurt said but didn't elaborate. "Do what you want then, just don't end up in over your head like you did with Audra."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying that you're really good at playing big boy games, but when it comes to actually stepping up to the plate and manning up, you run and hide."

"I do _not_," Finn argued. "Besides, that was two years ago. A lot's changed since then."

"Just don't come crying to me when it blows up in your face."

"Gee, thanks Kurt. Your confidence in my ability to live my own life is overwhelming," he said sarcastically, following Kurt out of the kitchen. "Seriously, it's really heartwarming."

This conversation had put a really bad taste in his mouth. Who was Kurt to judge him, especially when he didn't even know the entire story of what happened between him and Audra? He was a lot smarter than he was in Chicago. He jerked to a stop when he realized Mercedes had the boys and Jer huddled around the coffee table and were all looking through a couple of large books. "What are you guys doing?" he asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Looking at Kurt's yearbooks," Mercedes said in a singsong voice.

"Great." He had no clue what Rachel had told Michael about their past relationship, but either way, he had a feeling this wasn't going to be good.

"That's your mama singing at Nationals," she pointed out. "And that's me and there's Kurt. And look! There's Finn!"

"What's he doing?" Michael asked.

"He's…" Mercedes lifted the book and turned it sideways. "Oh! He's dancing!"

Michael wrinkled his little nose and doubled over with laughter. "He looks like a chicken!" he exclaimed, much to the hilarity of Jer and Mercedes.

"Believe me, kid, it's not much prettier now," Kurt said.

"Ha ha," Finn said, pushing Pablo out of the way so he could sit on the couch.

"So what's the plan?" Jer asked.

Finn looked at his watched and shrugged. "I guess we can head over to Grand Central now if we wanted to."

"The game doesn't start until _one_," Jer pointed out.

"Yeah, but we've got to feed them and stuff. And that way we can get there in time for them to see the players warming up."

Jer stood up and stretched his back. "Sounds like a plan to me! And we have got to get these kids some Yankees gear. We cannot take them to a baseball game in football jerseys."

* * *

As it turned out, they got to the stadium with plenty of time to spare. After stopping to snap a few pictures of the boys with his phone, they made a quick stop by one of the souvenir shops and Finn bought them some overpriced jerseys and baseball mitts before going concession hunting. Of course, Jer had to poke fun at Finn when he asked the stand owner if the hot dogs they were getting were kosher.

"Hey! Rachel'll kill me if I get her sons condemned for all of eternity the first time I watch them," he said defensively.

Jer looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do they really get condemned?" he asked.

"I don't know, I never asked," Finn said with a shrug. "But I'm guessing… hey, are you guys allowed to drink pop?"

"Yes, but not too late or Andy'll wet the bed," Michael answered. Andrew looked up at Finn and nodded sagely in agreement.

"Good to know." He grabbed them a couple of sodas and led them down into the stands. Sam had really pulled through and swung them some really great seats right by the dugout. Finn sank down into his seat and smiled as the boys looked wide-eyed around the stadium.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"I guess so," Michael allowed, although he couldn't quite keep the awe out of his voice.

He pointed out a few of the players he knew from appearances on the show and waved when he caught the eye of Sam's boyfriend, Mack Mitchum. Mack nodded in recognition and jogged over.

"Oh crap," Jer grumbled. "What are you doing? He's coming over here."

Finn ignored his friend and leaned over the railing to shake the second baseman's hand. "Hey, Mack."

"Sup, Hudson!" Mack said. "Sam said she hooked you up with some tickets. These your kids?"

He looked down at Michael and Andrew and nearly laughed at their matching star struck expressions. "Nah, they're my friend's. This is Michael and Andrew. Say hi guys." They both mumbled hello shyly and Finn turned back to Mack with a lopsided smile. "They've never been to a game before so I thought it'd be cool to bring them, you know?"

"It's y'alls first game?" Mack drawled. "You _never_ forget your first game. Mine was to the Astros way back when the Killer Bs were still playing." He looked over to where a few fans were gathering along the railing. "Hey, let me see their mitts before it gets too crazy."

"No freaking way," Jer said as Mack ran off, whistling to the first baseman and catcher. "You lucky dogs! All the infielders are going to sign your baseball mitts!"

Sure enough, the starting lineup of the New York Yankees gathered around Mack and passed the small mitts around.

"Hey, say thanks," Finn said, gently nudging Michael when Mack returned with their mitts.

"Thanks a lot, Mack!" Andrew said, finding his voice and giving him a high five. Michael was still playing shy but managed a quick thank you and shook his hand politely.

"Thanks, Mack. We really appreciate it."

Mack grinned. "Hey anything for a few brownie points, huh?" he asked with a knowing look in Finn's direction.

"Good luck, man," Finn laughed and, after winking broadly at the boys, Mack ran off to continue warming up. A few brownie points, Finn thought, and a whole chocolate cake and some ice cream on the side.

A few minutes later, the players returned to the dugout and shortly after, the opening ceremonies began. He could tell that Michael and Andrew were having the time of their lives, and he had to wonder if he had been that over the moon about it when Burt had taken him to his first game. Of course, he was 16 at the time and hadn't jumped around wildly every time someone hit the ball like Andrew did, but he was sure it was probably a similar experience for the most part.

He had a great time himself, joking around with Jer in between explaining different rules to the boys, who both caught on quickly. "That was ball, ump!" Andrew cried after Mack struck out in the fifth inning. "What are you, blind?" This was met with cheers of agreement from the other fans in their section and Finn didn't even try to hold back his laughter as he and Jer high fived over the boys' heads.

Both Michael and Andrew had quickly taken a liking to Jer and he had them in hysterics every time he would heckle the other team, faking a thick New York accent. Michael was still not talking to Finn and would avoid meeting him in the eye when he did have to speak. He was behaving himself though, for which Finn was glad. He had been to enough baseball games where little kids got pouty and tired halfway through and totally killed the entire mood for everyone around them.

Sometime after the seventh inning stretch, Andrew and Jer conspired to go find a cotton candy vendor. "Hold on tight, spider monkey," Jer joked, letting Andrew jump onto his back. Finn rolled his eyes but didn't comment on the ridiculous movie reference. "Do you guys want anything?"

"Nah, I'm good," Finn said, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. He took a few dollars out and tried handing them to Jer, but his friend just slapped his hand away.

"Don't be retarded," Jer muttered, making his way to the stairs. "Which flavor do you want, bro?"

Finn grinned when he heard Andrew's reply. "Blue."

He turned to Michael and held out his box of Cracker Jacks once they were gone. "Want one?"

"No, thank you," came Michael's short reply. He stared into the field, blinking quickly and not looking up at Finn.

"Having a good time?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Finn said, digging around in the box. "Just let me know if you want anything."

Michael sighed and sat all the way back in his seat. "Finn?" he finally asked.

"Yeah?"

"Were you really my mom's boyfriend?"

Finn nearly choked and looked at Michael in surprise. This kid really knew how to get to the point. If he wasn't going to be a lawyer like Rachel had said, then he would definitely make a killing as a reporter. "Well, uh," Finn muttered, trying to think of a good way around the question, "I was her _friend_ and I was – er, _am _– a boy."

Michael looked up like Finn had insulted him. "I'm almost seven, Finn; I know the difference between a friend and a boyfriend. I mean did you hold hands and kiss and stuff?"

Oh boy, did they ever.

Figuring honesty was the best approach, Finn slowly replied, "Yeah… but it was a long time ago before she ever even met your dad."

Michael mulled what he said over for a minute, watching as the Mack and the first baseman made a killer double play. "Are you her boyfriend _now_?"

"Well… no."

"Are you going to be?"

Finn rubbed the back of his neck and looked in the direction that Jer and Andrew had disappeared, wondering absently when they would get back. "I'm not really sure," he finally said. "We're definitely friends and I know we both like it that way. And I like hanging out with you and Andrew. That's okay, right?"

Michael nodded and Finn took it as a good sign to continue. "Look, I know how hard it is when your mom starts seeing somebody new. It's your job to take care of her and it's like they're trying to take your place. But I know for a fact that will never happen. Your mom loves you more than anything."

"I know," he said quietly.

Finn shifted in his seat and leaned over so he could look at Michael in the eye. "I promise you that right now we're just friends. And if we ever do decide to be, uh, you know, boyfriend and girlfriend, then you'll be the first person to know. And only if you're okay with it. Until then… I mean, if that ever happens… no matter what, you and me, we're buds. Cool?"

He was pretty sure this was going to blow up in his face and he had no clue how Rachel would react to what he had just promised her kid, but it was a promise he was sure he could keep. And Finn Hudson was a man who kept his promises. He eyed Michael speculatively and waited for his answer.

"That's… cool," he allowed.

"Good," Finn said, awkwardly placing his hand on Michael's thin shoulder and, to his relief, the boy looked up at him and gave him a little smile.

They turned their attention back to the game for a few minutes before Michael asked again, "Finn?"

Finn gulped, wondering what else they could cover in one afternoon. "What's up, buddy?"

"Thanks for bringing us to the game."

* * *

Rachel rushed up the stairs to her apartment, belying the exhaustion she was feeling, eager to kick off her shoes and get off of her feet. It had nothing to do with the fact that Finn was up there with the boys right at that minute, she told herself.

She had been worried all day long that they would give him a hard time and scare him off, but everything seemed fine when they texted each other periodically. He even sent her a few pictures of the boys at the ballpark and she immediately set one as her background image. When she called on her break at five thirty, they were already back from the game and were playing Wii 3D and eating pizza at Kurt's apartment. What they were doing there, she had no idea, but from the ruckus in the background, it sounded as if everyone was having a ball.

She unlocked the door as quietly as she could and crept into the apartment, slipping out of her shoes as soon as she was in the door. She stopped short upon entering though, her eyes falling on the sofa, and she had to bite back a giggle. Finn was stretched out, fast asleep with Andrew on his chest, and Michael was asleep on the other end, practically on top of Finn's long legs. The lights were off save for a lamp in the boys room and the television was on, an infomercial playing quietly on the screen.

"Finn," she whispered, tiptoeing to the couch, "_Finn_."

He mumbled something in his sleep and put his arms around Andrew, cuddling the little boy to him like a teddy bear. She bit her lip to keep from laughing and dropped to her knees beside them, wondering how to wake him up. He always was a deep sleeper. She hesitantly raised her hand and softly stroked his hair, leaning in a little closer.

"Finn," she whispered again, just a decibel louder. She withstood the urge to run her hand along his cheek and gently tweaked his nose with her forefinger instead.

He opened his eyes and blinked up at her a few times before smiling lazily. "Hey, Rach," he said softly, his voice thick with sleep. "What time is it?"

"It's almost one," she replied. "You should have lain down in my bed."

"It's alright. We fell asleep watching _The Goonies_ on cable."

"At least you got them in their pajamas first," she commented.

"Here, you take Andy," he said, sitting up slowly. "I'll get Michael."

She stood up and took Andrew from him, laughing softly. "You, little boy, are getting too big for this," she murmured, kissing him softly on the forehead. She made her way to their room, Finn padding quietly after her with Michael. She pulled the sheets down on Andrew's bed with one hand and gently laid him down. She tucked him in and gave him one last kiss before raising the bed rail.

"You leaving now, Finn?" she heard Michael ask sleepily behind her.

She turned to see Finn pulling the covers up to Michael's chin and sit on the edge of the bed. "Yeah, it's late."

"Can we still take Tank to the dog park tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Finn said with a smile. "It depends on what your mom has planned."

Michael looked over at her and waved. "Hi, Mama."

Rachel walked over and Finn stood up so she could take his place. "Hey, baby. Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah. The Yankees won and Finn bought us jerseys and mitts." He took the mitt off of his night stand and handed it to her. "We got to meet the second baseman and all the infielders signed our gloves for us."

"They did?" Rachel asked, looking down at the baseball mitt. Sure enough, there were several autographs scribbled inside. She looked up at Finn in shock and he smiled down at her bashfully.

"We'll have to get a special case for them so they won't get ruined," she replied, setting it back on the nightstand. "Did you tell Finn thank you?"

"Yeah, he did," Finn answered and Michael nodded.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time today. Maybe next time we can do something special for Finn, hm?"

Michael grinned. "Yeah. Can we see him tomorrow?"

"We'll see," Rachel said, leaning over to kiss his cheeks. "It's late now, go back to sleep."

"Okay," he said, turning to his side. "Night night, Mama."

"Good night, sweetie." She turned off the lamp and walked over to where Finn was silhouetted in the doorway.

"I'll see you later, buddy," Finn called softly, his hand on the door knob.

"Night, Finn."

Rachel stepped out and he closed the door softly behind him. "Finn, I can't thank you enough for –"

Finn held up his hand before she could continue. "Rachel stop. It was no problem at all. I did it because I wanted to; you don't owe me anything." He walked over to the sofa and began putting on his shoes.

She clicked on the lamp beside the sofa and turned off the TV. "At least let me make you a cup of coffee. I'd never forgive myself if you fell asleep on the road."

He smiled. "_That_ you can do," he agreed, following her into the kitchen.

"So the boys behaved themselves?" she asked as she prepared the coffee.

"Oh yeah, no problems at all."

She raised an eyebrow and set the creamer down on the table. "Even Michael?"

"He was quiet at first," he admitted, "but he ended up having a good time."

"I was worried about that. He's been a little difficult lately."

Finn nodded. "I believe it. I wouldn't let it bother you though; he's just threatened."

"Oh really?" Rachel smiled. "And this is your professional opinion?"

"I did take a psych class my freshman year of college," he joked. He looked up at her and grew serious again. "My mom had her fair share of boyfriends that I tried to scare off."

"It's easy to forget that you have that in common with him," she said, looking down at her hands, trying not to reflect too heavily on his use of the word 'boyfriends.' Surely he didn't mean to imply anything of that nature. "You were very well-adjusted by the time I met you."

He laughed wryly. "Yeah right. I still had a tough time even when my mom started dating Burt. Not that I tried to scare him off, but I did feel like he was replacing my dad. Or maybe that my mom was forgetting him… I don't know. I got over it though."

She poured their coffee and took a seat across from him. "I didn't realize it was that difficult for you. I mean, I knew about the Kurt thing, but I didn't know you had a problem with Burt."

"It wasn't that big a deal. Besides, that's when you were dating Jesse." He faked a cringe and continued, "I didn't want to bother you with my problems."

Rachel laughed and leaned back in her chair. "Oh Jesse! I wonder what happened to him."

"Does it even matter?"

"No, not really, but you do have to wonder. We definitely would have heard about him if he was making it big in New York."

Finn rolled his eyes. "I'll let you know if we ever have him on the show," he replied dryly.

"Please don't!" she cried. "I'm afraid I'd have to jump into the Hudson if that happened."

They laughed together, effectively changing the subject. Finn recounted the day for her and she had to smile at Michael's blunt assessment of Jer upon meeting him. "Well, if nothing else, I have two _very _open-minded children. Although I still can't believe you took them to Kurt's. What did he say when he realized they were mine?"

"Oh, you know Kurt. He just asked if they were paper trained. Mercedes thought they were great though. She practically smothered poor Andrew."

"I'll have to get together with them before too long," she said, twirling a spoon in her hand.

"When do the boys leave for Nantucket?" he asked quickly.

"Ugh, next Friday," she groaned. "I've never been away from them for that long; I'm starting to get a little depressed."

"Well, how about we get together with them some time while Andrew and Michael are away? So we can all catch up. That would be fun."

Rachel stood up and placed their empty cups in the sink. She would wash them in the morning. "I'll have to let you know; my work schedule is so erratic…"

"Don't start that again!" Finn laughed. He rose and stretched his arms behind his back while Rachel tried not to notice the way his biceps flexed. Good lord, how could he still be so good looking?

"Seriously though, you've got to loosen up and start having some fun," he continued. "When you know what your schedule looks like, you'll let me know and we'll plan something. Maybe we can even do something just the two of us… for old time's sake."

"That… would be nice," she agreed. "I do have a standing day off on Sundays, but I'll let you know if anything changes."

"I'd better go," he said, looking at his watch. "It's hella late and Tank's been cooped up all day. I need to try and take him for a walk before I go to bed."

"Oh, poor Tank," she cried as they walked to the door. "He's probably destroyed your apartment."

"Nah, I left him a rawhide bone and he's kennel trained. But he's still probably not too happy with me."

"Far be it for me to keep you!" They stopped at the door and looked at each other for a moment. "I know you don't want to hear it, Finn, but I really do appreciate everything you've done for us lately."

"You'd do the same for me," he said with a shrug.

"Well, thank you regardless."

He grinned and leaned down to give her a hug, but at the last minute she lifted her face to his and gave him a swift kiss on the mouth. It was the first overture of any kind that either one of them had made besides the occasional hug, and perhaps she lingered just a nanosecond too long and maybe she felt his surprised mouth start to soften under hers, but it ended as quickly as it started and he stared down at her in shock. Later she would tell herself it was just a chaste kiss between friends, but the look on his face hinted at so much more.

He cleared his throat and straightened up, his cheeks pink. "Um… can I call you tomorrow? Maybe we can get together. I know the boys wanted to see Tank again and there's this dog park –"

"Yes," she said with a nod, interrupting him before he could start rambling. "That sounds like it would be fun."

"Great." He gave her one last crooked smile and walked out into the hallway. "Good night, Rachel," he called as he mounted the stairs.

She waved before shutting the door and locking it behind her. She stood with her back to it for a moment before sliding down to the floor. She rested her head back against the wood and stared blankly up at the ceiling. What was she getting herself into?

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__A very Finn-centric chapter for y'all; I hope you enjoyed it! Please read and review._

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	7. Showmance Part Deux

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Six: Showmance Part Deux**

She tried not to look at the clock, she really did. But she couldn't help it, and with every glance, time seemed to be moving _slower_! Had it really only been three minutes? She could have sworn it had been at least ten since the last time she looked.

With a groan, Rachel stood up and made her way to the empty kitchen and pulled a tub of vegan ice cream out of the freezer. She didn't usually indulge in something so expensive (the stuff was nearly ten bucks a pop!), but she figured it was going to be a long week and she would need a little comfort food. But this was bad. The boys had just left for their trip _yesterday_ and already she was so bored she could die.

Of course her manager had decided not to schedule her for a double shift that day, even though the jerk had done so every Saturday for the past few weeks. She worked the lunch shift and made it home around four thirty. Usually, when she had some extra time, she would work out in the living room while the boys played, but she went out for a long run instead. That had only wasted an hour, so after a quick shower, she proceeded to clean the apartment from top to bottom. Unfortunately that didn't take very long because, if anything, the apartment was already in impeccable condition.

She made dinner, picking at the salad with hardly any appetite and tried watching TV. Nothing of any interest was on and, for once, watching _Funny Girl_ for the umpteenth time just didn't do it for her. It was just now nearing eight thirty and there was no way she was going to be able to fall asleep even if she tried since her hours were so screwed up.

Giving up on the ice cream, she threw herself back on the couch and stared blankly up at the ceiling. She was pathetic, a sad shell of the woman she once was. She hadn't stayed home on a Saturday evening since high school… at least she didn't after she started dating Finn. And if they did stay in, it was completely voluntary.

Suddenly, Rachel sat up, a thought occurring to her. Her eyes fell on her cell phone and slowly she reached for it. Finn wouldn't mind hearing from her, she was sure. If he was home, of course.

They had actually seen each other quite a bit the past week. After spending the day with him on Sunday, she was sure she wouldn't hear from him for a few days. She had worked the dinner shift on Monday and was grabbing an order in the back when Mallory popped up and asked who the guy was with Andrew and Michael.

Naturally her brain went into overdrive – she had left the boys with Mrs. Nedry, so how on _earth_ did they get to the restaurant and more importantly, with _whom_? She had a sneaking suspicion, which was immediately confirmed when she went up front and found them at one of her tables with Finn. He just smiled charmingly and explained that he had picked the boys up from her neighbor's and wanted to bring them by before he took them to dinner. They stayed just long enough to finish a soda and when Rachel returned to gather their glasses, she found a $20 tip.

They didn't see each other on Tuesday, but he did call to check in on her and he picked the boys up from Mrs. Nedry's again on Wednesday. She came home to find her Tupperware in disarray on the kitchen table and Finn bashfully described how he had tried to teach the boys to play the drums with a makeshift set. On Thursday, he took them all out for a farewell dinner and then helped Rachel pack them up for their trip while Michael and Andrew watched TV.

There hadn't been any repeats of Saturday night, thankfully; after further thought on the matter, she felt it better that she and Finn keep their relationship as platonic as possible. But hearing from him every day and seeing how he was with the boys was lulling her into a false sense of security. Finn was _not _her boyfriend, and while it was nice to spend time with him, they were not a family. She was sure they would always stay in touch, but once the novelty of playing house wore off and reality set in, she doubted she would be hearing from him as much.

In fact, she hadn't even heard from him since Thursday night, she suddenly realized. She knew he had been busy with work, but she'd grown accustomed to getting random texts from him during the day. Staring dejectedly at the phone in her hand, Rachel willed herself to put it down. She wasn't going to call him just because she was lonely, that would make her dependence upon him even worse.

Oh well, maybe she would wash her face and try and wind down. If she closed her eyes long enough, she was bound to fall asleep.

She shuffled into the bathroom and ran the tap while she pulled her face wash out from under the sink. She had just lathered it in and was squinting at herself in the mirror when a sound in the living room caught her attention. She froze and listened, trying to place it, suddenly realizing it was her cell phone vibrating where she had left it on the end table.

She hurried forward, trying not the let the soap blind her, and stubbed her toe on the corner of the doorway. Frantically she wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her robe and tried to grab the phone with a slippery hand. Not even bothering to check the ID, she flipped it open and tried to answer as casually as possible despite her throbbing toe and burning eyes.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Rachel! How's it going?" Finn asked cheerfully.

She did a little dance before answering nonchalantly, "I'm doing well. How are you?"

He sighed heavily and she could hear the sound of a door shutting. "Busy," he groaned. "Down Tank!"

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just now getting home from work and Tank's going a little crazy."

"But it's Saturday!"

"I had a few things to work on today and then there was this huge dinner meeting that Sam wanted me to go to," he explained. "So now I have to go in tomorrow morning to finish up. I haven't checked in with you for a few days and I wanted to see how you're doing before I turn in."

"You know I'm a big girl, Finn," she teased. "I can take care of myself." She walked back to the bathroom and grabbed her washcloth in order to wipe off the rest of her face wash.

"Humor me." He sounded tired, but she could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm fine," she maintained. "I promise. I'm just a little bored."

"Do you still have tomorrow off?"

"As far as I know."

"Well, how about we hang out? I'll feed you and show you a good time, I swear."

Rachel laughed lightly. "I thought you had to work tomorrow, Mr. Hudson."

"It's nothing I can't get done in a few hours. Come on, you can meet me at the studio around noon and then we can go that that restaurant on Ninth," he suggested. "Please don't make me beg."

She considered it for a moment. There was just something in his voice that made all her previous reservations fly out the window. How was it that he made it so hard for her to stick to her guns?

"That sounds delightful," she replied, smiling widely.

"Awesome!" he laughed. "I can't wait! You're not going to regret it, Rachel, I _promise_."

* * *

Finn grinned to himself as he artfully arranged the pillows on the stage. Good ideas didn't come to him that often, but when they did, they were pretty awesome.

He had finished up his work early enough to concoct the brilliant plan that he was now setting into motion. Initially he had thought about calling to make a reservation so that he and Rachel could just walk into the restaurant and eat, but truth be told, he wanted to spend more time with her than that. So he called in their orders instead (he got a few things that he thought Rachel might like and the rest he would just have as leftovers) and paid Earl to shut the security cameras off in the studio. It's not like he was going to try and get into Rachel's pants or anything, he just didn't want to feel like Earl was watching them while they were having a rare quiet moment.

He knew it was going to look completely fishy, and he knew that the set up was more than a little cheesebucket, but he _wanted_ to make Rachel feel special. After she had told him that her mother-in-law hadn't even invited her to join them on vacation, he had gotten the idea that no one had done anything nice for her in a long time. And of course, there was that kiss. He wasn't sure if it had been a _kiss_ kiss or just a kiss kiss, but either way, he was more than willing to explore the possibilities.

"Um, Finn?"

He whipped around in surprise. "Rachel!" he cried, his voice an octave too high for his liking.

She walked forward, her arms crossed in front of her, and he couldn't help thinking how pretty she looked in her colorful sundress. "What's going on?"

Finn froze. He hadn't exactly thought of a good excuse for them _not_ to have lunch at the restaurant. "Well… I… uh… surprise!" He held his arms open wide and motioned to the set up on the stage. "I thought that we could, you know, have a quiet lunch instead of going to a noisy restaurant."

"Oh."

Crap, did she sound disappointed?

"But, I ordered it in," he added quickly. "I got us some sandwiches and this tofu stuff and a burrito. I mean, I was kind of wanting to try the burrito myself, but you can totally have it if you want –"

"Thank you, Finn," she said softly. "I just didn't expect you to go to all this trouble."

"Nope, no trouble!" he insisted. He ran down and took her purse, trying to hide his surprise at how heavy the thing was. He set it on one of the empty seats and led her up to the stage.

"Oh! Watch this!" He ran down to a panel near the lifeless cameras and flipped a switch. He pointed to the backdrop behind Sam's desk – it was made to look like they were in a skyscraper overlooking the Hudson, the Statue of Liberty in the background. "Do you prefer sunset?" he asked, the backdrop changing accordingly. "Or maybe a nightscape?"

She giggled from her spot in the middle of the stage. "There is something whimsical about having lunch by moonlight."

"Great," he said, adding "whimsical" to his list of Rachel words to look up. He'd started it in high school, but it felt like he never was going to catch up.

She walked over to the piano where the band was set up in the corner. "May I?"

"Yeah, sure." He followed her to the instrument and sat down on the bench beside her when she looked up at him expectantly. "Want to see something else?"

She nodded and he made a show of cracking his fingers over the keyboard before starting a scale.

"Finn!" she laughed. "You learned how to play the piano?"

"Yup. I had to have three hours in a fine arts course, so I took three one-hour piano classes instead," he replied, moving on to the arpeggio. He missed a note and looked up at her in embarrassment, but she just smiled. "I'm a little out of practice."

"What else can you play?"

He grinned. "Oh, I have quite the diverse catalogue. Let's see… there's Beethoven." He played the opening chords to "Ode to Joy".

"Mozart," he said, switching to "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" and causing Rachel to laugh with delight. He thrilled at the sound of her laughter echoing throughout the empty studio and marveled at how it blended so perfectly with the music. For as long as he lived, Rachel would always be synonymous with music in his mind and it broke his heart that somewhere along the way she had lost her voice. Not like she couldn't talk, obviously, just that _thing_ that had made her Rachel.

"Is that all?" she asked, trailing her fingers along the keys but not pushing down, like she had lost the ability to play.

"Oh, of course not! I haven't even broken out the big guns yet." At that, he began playing "Don't Stop Believing" with an exaggerated flourish, causing her to grab her sides and double over. "Pretty good, huh? I mean, I'm no Brad, but I can work my way around a keyboard alright."

"You play very well," she agreed. "I'm very proud of you, Finn. You've come a long way."

"Yeah," he scoffed, plucking absently at the keys. "A long way from the dumb jock you knew in high school."

She pulled her hands away from the piano and clasped them in her lap. "You know I never thought of you that way."

"No – I –" he stopped and sighed. "I know. You always believed in me even when there wasn't much to believe in."

She looked up at him in that fathomless way that used to make him squirm. "I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for you," he continued. "You always expected more of me and then I started expecting more from myself."

Slowly, Rachel began to smile, a real, true smile. The smile that he had missed for eight years without realizing it. "Really, Rachel, you – your _support_, I mean – has always meant a lot to me. And I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate it… even if it's a million years too late."

"No," she murmured. "It's not too late."

Their gazes locked and just when Finn was about to throw caution to the wind and lean towards her, she stood and looked over at their takeout. "Shall we eat?"

He took a deep breath and tried to get his hormones in check. He was not a sixteen year old boy anymore, he told himself, he was a twenty-seven year old man and he could _control_ himself.

"Finn, is everything alright?" He looked over at her and tried not to think about how the fake moonlight glowing behind made her look unreal, like an angel or a fairy or something. "I know you're hungry. You're always hungry."

"Uh, yeah, dig in."

She sat down on his makeshift picnic set up and arranged her dress around her before pulling the bag over. "Here's your burrito," she announced, handing it over to him as he joined her. Her eyes grew wide as she pulled out one of the sandwiches and she looked over at Finn in excitement. "Finn! Is this a Tuscan Portobello Sandwich?" she gasped.

"Yeah," he said as he unwrapped his burrito. "There should be some fries and garden greens or something in there too."

"Field greens?" she squealed, digging into the bag with renewed fervor. "And _dessert_? You have made my day."

At that he had to smile. She sounded genuinely happy and it was just rabbit food. Before she could open the container, he snatched it away from her and placed it to the side. "Nope," he admonished, "you have to _earn _dessert."

"What?" she asked. "You mean my years of continued support aren't enough?"

He looked over at her in shock and it took him a moment to realize that she was kidding. "Ha ha," he muttered and her laughter pealed around him like bells. (Christ, when did he get so corny?) "Oh! Before I forget, I was talking to Kurt and we're planning a karaoke night on Wednesday. You game?"

She looked a little uncertain for a moment and he knew she was about to beg off. "Well, I really do have work that day," she said. "But I get off at nine thirty."

"That's fine," he said, trying to sound cool about it. "We don't get started until nine at the earliest anyway. And it's a bar so we pretty much have all night."

"So," she took a bite and looked around the studio, "how did you land this job?"

He swallowed down a large bite of burrito and shrugged. "Well, first I got a summer internship with WOHN-TV, which really sucked, and then I got a job with the network in Chicago as a production assistant after graduation. I was there for a couple of years and then I heard that there was this talk show in New York looking for an associate producer so I applied and here I am."

"And… is that why you and Audra...?"

"No," he bit out. "No, we broke up before then."

Rachel turned red. "I'm sorry, the curiosity is killing me," she confessed.

"Well, I guess that's fair." He took another bite of his burrito and thought over how to put it without making himself sound like a douchebag. "It's really not that interesting of a story."

"I don't mind boring stories."

Finn leaned back on his hands. "We weren't really together all that long, we started dating a year before graduation. I didn't really know what I wanted to do, I just knew I didn't want to go back to Lima and Audra gave me an out. She was going to Chicago and asked me to move with her. I did it." He paused and gauged Rachel's reaction. She seemed alright, so he continued cautiously, "It was great for a while. We got an apartment, we got Tank, but after a few months she started dropping hints."

"Hints?" Rachel asked. She tore off a piece of her sandwich and popped it into her mouth while eyeing him curiously.

"Yeah, like 'Do you prefer small weddings?' and 'Wouldn't a backyard for Tank be great?' and stuff like that. And it kind of freaked me out. I loved Audra, I really did, but I didn't like feeling like I had to settle down with her just because that was the next step. Does that make sense?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "To tell you the truth, I probably would have been the same way." She giggled softly. "Probably just not as subtly."

"I know, but that's different. We would have been together for forever at that point," he insisted. "I felt like I was backed into a corner and I didn't want to get caught in the same situation that I had been with Quinn. I mean, I mostly stayed with her because I had to. I didn't want to start a life and get married to someone when I wasn't sure what I wanted. Audra was seeing a house with a white picket fence and kids and a dog and I was still trying to figure out what I was doing with my life.

"Anyway, long story short, she kicked me out after a few months and I stayed in Chicago for another year and a half before landing the New York gig. I think we're both happier now. At least, I hope so. I know I am." He picked his burrito back up and picked at it half-heartedly. He didn't say how he never completely lost himself in Audra or that while she was a great girl, there just was something missing in her. A lack of presence, a force of life – he didn't know. It just wasn't right.

Rachel finished off her sandwich and absently worried her bottom lip with her teeth. "You're right," she finally said. "That really was a boring story. Maybe next time you can make something up."

Finn laughed. "I guess it's not as dramatic as 'she cheated on me with my best friend, got knocked up, and tried to convince me it was mine even though we never even had sex,' huh?"

"Nope. It doesn't even beat 'she dumped me in a bout of self-pity, told me we were taking a break, and then got married six months later to someone else.'"

"Or 'he was the star of our rival glee club, transferred to our school, and then egged me in front of all of his friends,'" he contributed.

She rolled her eyes. "And the winner: 'he died and left me broke with two little boys to raise alone.' That one's just sad."

"Yeah, but at least you didn't get dumped," Finn joked. Rachel looked at him suddenly, her eyes big, and he felt the blood drain from his face. "Crap, Rachel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean –" he began, but he was abruptly cut off by her snort of laughter. She was laughing so hard that he couldn't help but join her after a moment.

"Please tell me that at least earns me a dessert," she wheezed, wiping the tears out of her eyes.

"Sorry, a dead husband doesn't exempt you from singing for your dessert." He reached behind him and pulled out the container. He was glad they could laugh and not be so uptight about David. Sure, it was a little morbid, but it meant that Rachel was moving on.

"I have to _sing_ for it?" she asked incredulously.

"Sure. I mean, it's been a while since I've heard you and when was the last time you got to perform on a stage?"

"I don't know, Finn. I haven't properly warmed up and we don't have any music."

"Please, I've heard you belt things out a capella before! And this just isn't any dessert. It's a vegan chocolate cheesecake." He slowly opened the container to reveal a perfectly cut piece of cheesecake with fresh strawberries on top. "I don't know what they did to make it vegan, but just between you and me," he waved it under her nose, "it looks _delicious_."

Rachel leaned over and closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply. Finn had to remind himself to be cool and fought the urge to kiss her.

"It does look good," she murmured longingly.

"That's what I thought!" He stood and pulled her up along with him. He grabbed the cheesecake for good measure and made his way to a seat in the audience. "Whenever you're ready!" he called.

"But I don't even know what you want me to sing," she protested.

"Whatever you want. Surprise me."

"Finn," she said, stomping a foot and crossing her arms in front of her, "this is juvenile and ridiculous."

"You know, Rach, if you don't quit your yapping, I'm going to have to eat this thing all by myself." He stuck his tongue out and acted like he was going to lick the slice along the top.

"Puh-_lease_, Finn! I'm raising _two_ boys; you're deluded if you think a little slobber is going to stop me from eating that."

"Sing!" he demanded, looking over his shoulder like he was garnering support from an invisible audience. "Sing, sing, sing, sing!" He stomped his foot with the beat and mimicked the sound of a crowd roaring.

"Fine! I do have a song in my repertoire that I can do easily without an accompaniment."

"We're _waiting_!"

Rachel took a deep breath. "I present to you 'You Must Love Me', originally performed by Madonna in the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's _Evita_."

She spared one last glare at Finn before softly beginning the song.

"_Where do we go from here?  
This isn't where we intended to be  
We had it all, you believed in me  
I believed in you._"

Finn listened, his mouth hanging open. How was it possible for her voice to have this kind of effect on him still?

"_Certainties disappear  
What do we do for our dream to survive?  
How do we keep all our passions alive  
As we used to do?_

"_Deep in my heart I'm concealing  
Things that I'm longing to say  
Scared to confess what I'm feeling  
Frightened you'll slip away  
You must love me  
You must love me_"

He gulped as she finished the first refrain. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest; he had to wonder if she could hear it up on the stage.

"_Why are you at my side?  
How can I be any use to you now?  
Give me a chance and I'll let you see how  
Nothing has changed._

"_Deep in my heart I'm concealing  
Things that I'm longing to say  
Scared to confess what I'm feeling  
Frightened you'll slip away  
You must love me  
You must love me_.

"_You must love me_."

Finn looked at her in silence, overwhelmed by the strength of her performance. She sang it so real and so _broken_; he had to wonder who she was singing it for. He felt a pang of jealously as he thought about her singing this way for _David_. Sure, the guy had been her husband, but he hoped that there was something that still belonged to just him and her.

"Well, what did you think?" She stood in the center of the stage and fidgeted with the hem of her dress. She was so much like the Rachel he knew in high school, and so… _not_. _His_ Rachel would never fidget.

"That was amazing, Rach." He set the dessert down in his lap and began clapping enthusiastically. Slowly he made his way back to the stage and surrendered her cheesecake. "See, you've still got it."

She looked at him archly as she settled back down on the pallet. "Did you ever doubt it?"

"N-no!" he sputtered. "I just didn't know if you had kept up with your singing or if you had quit all together. I… I'm just going to stop talking now."

"That's probably a good idea." She plucked a strawberry off of the top of the cheesecake and placed it on her tongue with a saucy little smile. "Where's your dessert?"

He pulled two plastic forks out from the bag and handed her one. "I never said that you got to eat the entire thing yourself."

"You mean I had to compete for a dessert that I have to _share_? How is that fair?" she exclaimed. "I should make you sing for that, Finn Hudson… _and_ dance!"

"No way! Besides, I boughtit." He reached over and dug his fork into the cheesecake. "Yum!" he said over the mouthful in his mouth.

"You are a mess," Rachel giggled. She lifted her hand and wiped away the chocolate that he had smudged at the corner of his mouth with her thumb.

He froze, a moment of déjà blue or view or whatever sweeping over him. Sure, the tables were turned, but his heart was pounding and he was pretty sure that he had the same surprised look on his face that she did on hers. He wasn't a kid anymore though, and he didn't wait for permission this time. He leaned over and captured her mouth with his.

He halfway expected her to fight him, but her lips were immediately soft and pliant and, in fact, she pulled him down with her. He grunted in surprise before shifting himself to rest between her legs more comfortably. Her mouth opened to his, and he reveled in the taste of the bittersweet chocolate on her tongue. Vaguely he felt her fingers slowly slide down his back and up his shirt. He lowered his hands to her hips and squeezed lightly when she moved against him.

God he'd missed this! He _knew_ that that kiss on Saturday night was something.

He was so caught up in the thrill of holding Rachel in his arms again, that he didn't realize when the nature of their kiss changed. Suddenly her arms went slack and she pressed her lips closed against his. He pulled back in a haze and looked at her questioningly, only to be pushed away the moment he let any space between their bodies.

"No, no, no, _no_," she said lowly. She frantically straightened her dress and wiped at her mouth like she tasted something awful before jumping up. "I-I can't do this."

She looked down at Finn, her expression unreadable. "It's too – I'm sorry, Finn." With that she turned on her heel and ran from the studio, pausing only to grab her purse.

And all he could do was sit there and stare speechlessly after her.

What the _hell_ had just happened? He sat frozen like that until he heard a shuffling in the hallway. She was coming back!

"Can I switch the cameras back on now, Mr. Hudson?" Earl asked, poking his head into the studio. "Now that your lady friend is gone, I mean."

Finn just flung himself down on the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. "Damn," he cursed, the word bouncing around in the empty room.

* * *

"_You Must Love Me" originally appeared on the 1996 album, __**Evita: The Complete Motion Picture Music Soundtrack**__. Song written by and copyrighted to Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber._

_**Author's Note: **__Don't worry; we've got some good stuff coming up! We're about halfway through and I still have a few things in store for our favorite couple. I did notice that I had my year/dates off; I try to be very careful about those things because I'm anal about continuity, but apparently I'm incapable of doing simple math, so I'll be updating some of the previous chapters. Finn and Rachel broke up at the very end of 2012/beginning of 2013, so it's been about eight years since the last time they've seen each other at this point. They're twenty-seven at this point of the story._

_Also, I want to take a moment and thank everyone who has read and reviewed __**A Tempo**__! It's always a treat when I log in to see new reviews and alerts in my Inbox. Please continue to share the love!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	8. Livin' on a Prayer

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Seven: Livin' on a Prayer**

"Welcome to Rhonda's. My name is Rachel and I'll be your server this evening. Can I start you off with an appetizer or maybe one of our delicious Southern sweet teas?" she recited monotonously. It was almost closing time, the restaurant was practically empty, and of course the hostess just had to sit an elderly couple at her station.

The man smiled simply and tore his gaze from Rachel's chest to look at the menu. "Edith!" he yelled. "Edith, did you want an appetizer?"

Edith looked up at Rachel blankly and shrugged. "Well, I don't know, Morris. What do they have?"

"We have an assorted selection appetizers, all listed in the front of your menu," Rachel said. "Or, if you're unable to choose, perhaps I can interest you in a sampler basket."

"Are the mozzarella sticks good?" Morris shouted, causing Rachel to wince.

"The best on this side of town."

"How about the Buffalo Chicken Dip?"

"It's all superb," she ground out.

"I think we'll take the sampler basket," Edith said. "And coffee, decaf."

"Very good, I'll go get that for you while you look over the menu." She hurried off to the kitchen and grabbed the decaf coffeepot, only to run right into Mallory upon turning around.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You've been a little off the past few days."

Rachel walked around her friend and took a couple of coffee cups down from their shelf. "I'm fine."

"Does it have to do with that tall glass of water that was hanging around here last week?" Mal prodded. "I kind of miss seeing him around."

"He only came by _twice_, Mal. Get a grip."

"So it definitely has to do with him!" her friend giggled. "What's the deal? We could all totally tell that he has it bad for you. And he was _so_ cute with your kids."

Rachel felt her face go red and she made a show of inspecting one of the cups in her hand. "Nothing's going on with him."

"Is it David?" Mallory asked.

"What? No!" Rachel cried, her head snapping up. _That_ was the problem; Finn made her completely forget about David. At least he did while she was kissing him. But she also forgot the fact that she was a mom and she lived in a shithole and she would be working two jobs soon and so many other _important_ things. And if she got anything out of the fiasco on Sunday, it was that Finn was not ready to settle down.

He had been very sweet about her running out on him. He called her a few times and left two very long, rambling messages in which he expressed his sincerest apologies and that it wouldn't happen again and then he didn't press the matter any further. In fact, he hadn't called since Monday evening, stating in his second message that he would give her some space and she could call him and they would talk all she wanted whenever she was ready.

He did send one text that afternoon though, a simple "Karaoke tonight, 9:00. Marlowe's in Midtown. Please come," to which she still hadn't replied.

"Look, Rachel, I know it's none of my business, but just because your husband is dead, it doesn't mean that you are too," Mallory said quietly. "That guy seemed really sweet. Go out and have a little fun."

Rachel nodded and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I'll keep that in mind, Mal. Thanks."

"Hey," Mallory grabbed the coffeepot from her. "Go on home. Tomorrow's your day off and I know that you don't want to stay here and wait on Fred and Ethel. I'll close out for you."

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked, her shoulders slumping.

"Sure I'm sure!" Mal laughed, smacking Rachel on the rump. "Frankie says relax."

Rachel rolled her eyes and watched as Mallory walked over to her customers and took over. Then she heaved a sigh, hung up her apron and grabbed her purse. "I'm out, Rob," she called to the manager. "Mal's closing out for me."

"Whatever, Rachel. I'll see you on Friday."

She hurried out of the building and began her trek home, wondering absently what she should do that evening. The past couple of nights had been hell, especially after what happened with Finn. He certainly hadn't overstepped his bounds, she knew that. In fact, she had been incredibly disappointed that he hadn't tried to kiss her at the piano. But that was no excuse for her to virtually jump his bones when he did.

She had never been so embarrassed! And then she had run out of the room like a teenager who had been caught red-handed (not that they had ever been caught, but there had been a few close calls). He probably thought she was a complete fool!

What was holding her back? Why could she let herself open up to Finn? She knew she really wanted to. And she knew she wanted _him_. There were no two ways about it; she was still completely and utterly smitten with Finn. She loved the way he made her feel, like she _didn't_ have the world on her shoulders, like she _wasn't _alone, like she _could_ be loved again.

She didn't know if things could ever be like they were before – oh! Who was she kidding? They could _never_ go back to the way they were before. Too much had changed, too much time had passed, but could she let herself believe that maybe, just _maybe_, they could be better this time around? The odds were against them and she didn't expect Finn to take on any roles that he wasn't ready for, but she could hope, right?

Rachel knew that this was a dangerous thing that she was playing with, more than once she had let her tenuous hold on hope bring her down, but it was something that she had been without for too long. And even if it was for a few days, she could pretend that she wasn't a single mom and that she didn't have anything else in the world to worry about. Who knew what next week would bring, but she resolved to herself that she was she was going to live like there was no tomorrow as she ran up the stairs to her apartment.

She hurried into her bedroom and flung open her closet door. She was going to do this, but first, she needed to find something to wear.

* * *

"Look at those assholes," Jer spat, glaring at a table of guys across from them. "They look like a bunch of _drunk_ frat boys." He snorted and took a sip of his drink. "Friggin' Beck & Roth _tools_."

"See, this is why I don't like it when you drink vodka," Kurt commented. "You get belligerent."

"I do _not_!" Jer argued. He turned to Mercedes' husband, who was watching the exchange with an amused look on his face. "Hey, Anthony, are you packin'?"

"Packing _what_, Jeremy?" Anthony laughed. "I'm an anesthesiologist, not a hood."

"Boy," Mercedes said, "are you _insane_? Like hell if you think my husband is going to join a brawl just because you don't like the firm they work for."

"You don't understand, Mercedes," Jer said, leaning over the pub table like he was telling them all a secret. "_They're_ the enemy."

Finn looked up from his Crown and Coke and sighed. He had no idea what brokerage firms had to feud about, but somehow Jer found a reason.

"Oh, hell no!" Jer shouted with the Beck & Roth guys walked to the stage and began singing "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. "Hudson! You can't let them insult me this way! You and me, man, Whitesnake, 'Here I Go Again'; what do you say?"

"I'm not really in the mood."

"God, you're being a buzz kill," Jer muttered, sitting back in his seat.

Kurt rolled his eyes and turned away from Jer to look Finn in the face. "_You_. What is this?" He motioned around Finn like there was something surrounding him and Finn looked around confused. Did he have dandruff or something?

"What's what?"

"You've been walking around in this veritable cloud of self pity lately and it's getting _annoying_."

"What ver-verit… cloud… I'm not feeling sorry for myself!" he sputtered.

Kurt glared at him dangerously. "This better not have to do with Rachel."

"Who said anything about Rachel?" He knew he sounded like a grumpy little kid, but he didn't really care the moment.

"Well, I don't know what's bothering you, but my drunken significant other is right, you're being a buzz kill. I suggest you throw back a couple more of those Crown and Cokes, sing some sappy classic rock songs, and _get over yourself_."

Running a hand through his hair in agitation, he replied, "Thanks, Kurt. Your concern is really touching."

"That's what step-brothers are for."

Truth be told, it _was_ about Rachel. She had been giving him the silent treatment since Sunday. He had hoped against hope that she might show up tonight, but it was already nearing ten thirty and she was still a no show. Man, he really shouldn't have kissed her. Not that he regretted it, but he should have let _her _make the call. Although she did seem pretty into it at the time.

Damn it, now things were all screwed up. All he wanted to do was see her and talk to her. He wanted to make her laugh like she did on Sunday. And he wanted to kiss her again and again, and God help him, but he wanted her in the worst possible way. He was such a _douche_!

Jer jeered when the Beck & Roth guys finished their song and Mercedes picked up the list of song choices. "So is anyone actually going to sing tonight or are we just drinking? Because I could have done this for a lot cheaper at home."

"Oo, ABBA," Kurt said, leaning over her shoulder.

"You _know_ I do not sing ABBA, Kurt."

"Really, Mercedes, your lack of _joie de vivre_ is truly dishearteningly," Kurt chastised lightly. "Perhaps you'd enjoy some Destiny's Child? I'll do Beyoncé and you can be Kelly Rowland."

"Over my dead body."

Kurt smirked and surveyed the scene. "Quite the turn out tonight… well, well, _well_," he said, looking at something over Finn's shoulder.

Finn ignored whatever comment Kurt was about to make and groaned when the opening notes to "Faithfully" began playing throughout the bar and a tone deaf businessman began singing. "I'm really starting to hate this song."

The words had just left his mouth when all of a sudden Mercedes jumped up and screeched at the top of her lungs. "_Rachel_!" she exclaimed, nearly knocking Kurt right out of his chair.

Finn whipped his head around in surprise and sure enough, she was standing slightly behind him and looking _gorgeous_. He hadn't seen her in anything besides sundresses and her work uniform, but now she was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans, black heels, and a large purple top that hung off of her shoulder. She had done something with her makeup, her eyes were all smoky and her lips looked all shiny and pink and _damn_ she was beautiful.

She just smiled shyly as Mercedes ran over and gave her a hug. Kurt stood up and crossed his arms. "Well, if it isn't Rachel Barbra Berry." He arched an eyebrow, his tone snide. "You look good."

"Well, all my plaid skirts and sweaters are at the cleaners," she returned in kind, "so it was either this or my widow's weeds."

Then, to Finn's surprise, Kurt smirked and opened his arms out to her. "I've missed you, princess," he replied, enveloping her in a big hug.

"Can you believe I've actually missed you a little too?" When she looked up and smiled into Kurt's face, Finn could see her eyes glittering with tears, and he fought the urge to take her into his arms right then and there. But she hadn't said a word to him, much less looked at him.

Kurt led her over to the table and Finn pulled out the chair next to him while Mercedes took care of introducing her to Jer and Anthony. She took his hand and met his eye as he helped her up into the seat, and then she squeezed lightly before letting go. Apparently he was forgiven.

"So you're the famous Rachel!" Jer slurred from his seat before Finn could say anything to her. "I kind of remember you now that I see you," he continued. "I definitely remember your husband. The dead one, I mean." Finn almost laughed out loud at the mortified expressions on Kurt, Mercedes, and Anthony's faces, but Rachel just smiled politely and nodded her head.

"And I went to a game with your kids. That was cool."

"Yes, they enjoyed that very much."

"You'll have to forgive him," Kurt said. "He's gets a little boisterous when he's had too much vodka."

Their waitress walked over and Jer looked at Rachel expectantly. "What's your poison?"

"May I see your wine list please?" she asked, but Jer grabbed the girl's arm and stopped her.

"Nope! We only do hard liquor on karaoke nights."

Rachel hesitated and Finn leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry, he's paying."

She giggled and leaned over to him. Geez, she smelled good. Was she wearing perfume? "What are you drinking?"

"A Crown and Coke."

At that her cheeks turned a little pink and she laughed quietly at their little inside joke. "I'll take a Crown and Coke then too," she told the waitress. "I don't usually drink liquor," she informed the table, "so please forgive me ahead of time if I do anything embarrassing."

"Don't worry, Jeremy has the monopoly on humiliation tonight," said Kurt.

"So, why do you hate this song again, Finn?" Rachel teased.

Crap, he hadn't realized she had heard him. "Oh, um, not the _song_. This guy's just way off-key."

"Yes," she agreed, her eyes sparkling. "Our rendition was far superior." Then she did something that threw him totally off; she smiled prettily and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. He felt the heat in his face and tried unsuccessfully to avoid Kurt's intense stare.

"Hey, Rachel, do you sing?" Jer asked.

She cast Finn a mischievous glance. "On occasion."

"You _know_ this, Jeremy. She was in glee club with us," Mercedes said.

"I'm _drunk_. How do you expect me to keep all these people straight?"

"Yeah, we've only been talking about one person, Jer," Finn clarified, taking a sip of his drink.

"As I was _saying_," he continued, "we need another strong set of pipes so that we can outdo those Beck & Roth cronies. I can only take their insults lying down for so long!" He stood and waved a fist in their direction, only to be pushed back down into his seat by Anthony.

Rachel furrowed her brow in confusion and moved to the side as their waitress set down her drink. Finn watched in amusement as she took a small sip and wrinkled her nose. She coughed delicately before taking another small sip. "And who are Beck & Roth?"

"They're the enemy," Finn murmured. Sure, it wasn't necessary to talk so low with all the noise of the bar, but it gave him an excuse to be close to her. Whatever perfume she was wearing was as intoxicating as the whiskey in his drink. He'd have to get the name from her and buy her a bottle for her birthday.

"Oh." This time she took a longer sip and she didn't make a face as it went down. "Whose enemy?"

"I have _no_ idea."

They laughed quietly to themselves, their heads nearly touching, and Kurt cleared his throat loudly. "Is there something you two would like to share?" he asked.

They exchanged a look and shook heads like two children caught with their hands in the cookie pot. "Nope," Finn said with a grin. "Nothing at all."

"In that case," Kurt grumbled and downed the rest of his drink. "Rachel, since I cannot get Mercedes to join me, I was wondering if you would care to take on a little ABBA with me. I'm sure you and I could do 'Mamma Mia' without any issues."

"That sounds like fun."

Kurt wrote down their song choice and handed it off to a passing waitress. "Oh, Mercedes!" Rachel suddenly cried. "I _love_ your bag!"

Finn groaned inwardly and exchanged a look with Anthony as the girl talk commenced. Mercedes threw a glance at the purse emblazoned with little JNYs hanging from her chair. "Girl, if you want one, just let me know. I've already designed two for Tina and Quinn and –"

"Hang on a second," Rachel said, putting a hand out. "_You're_ Jonesy NY?"

Mercedes just grinned.

"Finn!" Rachel gasped, nudging his shoulder. "You didn't tell me that Mercedes is _the_ Jonesy NY!"

"Um… is that a big deal?"

"Yes!"

"If you ever want to trade in that Louis Vuitton for a custom Jonesy," Mercedes said, "give me a call. I'll get you the hook up. I have a few prototypes hanging in my design studio that would be just perfect for you."

"That yellow and white tote just screams 'Rachel'," Kurt agreed.

Rachel finished her drink, her cheeks a little rosy and Finn took the liberty to order her another while she and Kurt did their number. Rachel's voice was amazing as usual and thankfully there weren't any diva freak outs while they shared the stage. They even improvised a little dance, shimmying their shoulders while Rachel flung her hair back in this totally sexy way. It drove Finn absolutely nuts and he downed the rest of his drink and moved on to the one he recently ordered for Rachel.

He had told himself he was going to be cool, but he was seriously starting to doubt his ability to keep his hands to himself. She kept looking up at him with those smoky eyes from beneath those long lashes and she was being so cute and flirty that Finn was starting to wonder what had gotten into her. Not that he was complaining, but this was a completely different Rachel from the one he had been seeing.

Rachel plopped back down in her seat with a large smile on her face, exhilarated from their performance. "What should we sing next?" she asked excitedly as their waitress walked up and placed another drink before her.

"From the gentlemen over there," she said, indicating to the Beck & Roth table. They all turned and looked over and one of the guys actually had the balls to nod his head at Rachel and raised his drink up in a toast.

Finn felt his temper rise. Did they think that just because they looked good in business suits that they could just hit on whoever they wanted? Over his dead body! There were plenty of available women at this bar and like hell if he was going to let them buy drinks for Rachel. He met Jer's eye and nodded somberly.

Jer perked up and grinned drunkenly. "'Here I Go Again'?"

"No," Finn said. They needed something good, something to put those Beck & Roth bastards into a funk… A long forgotten memory hit him out of the blue and he smirked. "'Another One Bites the Dust'."

Jer nodded in agreement and hurriedly turned in the song choice.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well this is refreshing. Can't we have _one_ karaoke night with picking a fight with the B&R guys?"

"What's going on?" Rachel asked.

"Apparently they're defending your honor," Anthony explained.

"But it's just a drink."

Finn clenched his jaw resolutely. "It's never _just_ a drink, Rach."

She bit her lip and looked at the drink as if it were poisoned. "Well, what am I supposed to do with it? There's no point in sending it back now."

At that, Finn picked it up and drank it himself in a few big gulps. Thankfully, he had already had several, so the whiskey didn't burn going down. He could feel himself starting to get more than a little buzzed. He was no light-weight by any means, but he may as well have been doing shots the way he had been knocking them back so quickly. But he ordered two more and waited a little nervously for his and Jer's turn to come up.

Finally their names were called and he stood, took another gulp of Crown and Coke for courage, and walked over to the stage. He'd done karaoke with the group before, but this was the first time he had sung in front of Rachel in _years_. What if he was out of tune? What if his voice cracked? He cast a nervous glance at her as the music began. She gave him a big, reassuring smile and even blew him a little kiss.

His confidence restored, he glowered down at the unsuspecting Beck & Roth table and let loose. Truth be told, he even let himself dance to the beat. A little.

* * *

It was just past 2 A.M. and they were all pretty smashed, if the way they were all giggling inanely was any indication. Rachel had by far sang the most songs (she had everyone in the bar on their feet and cheering when she finished "It's All Coming Back to Me Now"), but the rest of the group hadn't done too bad. Mercedes had rocked the house with a couple Mariah Carey songs and they even gave in to Jer's suggestion for them to have a New Directions reunion and sang "Don't Stop Believin'" despite Kurt saying it was "utterly cliché."

That wasn't even the best part. They finally stole a booth when another group had left and Rachel had happily sat in Finn's lap since there wasn't enough room for all of them to fit. He loved the feel of her in his arms again. It was as if that's where she was meant to be and it felt empty and hollow any time she got up.

"You know, Rachel," Jer laughed. "I can_not_ _believe_ that you're actually a whiskey girl. You seem more like a tequila or vodka kinda chick."

They all laughed when Rachel snorted on her drink and placed a hand over her mouth to keep from spewing it all over the place. "I'm _not_! It's the only hard liquor I've ever had."

Finn chuckled and placed his forehead against her back, tightening his arms around her waist.

"Seriously?" a bleary-eyed Anthony asked.

"Seriously! The only other time I've had it was with Finn!"

"What?" Finn cried. "When?"

Kurt leaned over and shook his finger in Finn's face. "_I _remember! It was that time Dad and Carole went out of town for the weekend and we threw that _rip-roaring_ party at our house." He threw up his handsdramatically and nearly hit Jer in the face. "It was insane. Remember?"

"Oh yeah! And Puck hooked us up with all the booze," he recalled.

"But you and Rachel were too good for beer," Kurt shouted. "You broke into Dad's Crown and drank the _entire_ bottle. Then you locked yourselves up in your room and –"

"And went at it like monkeys!" Rachel busted out. Finn felt his cheeks go up in flames as they all laughed heartily. Rachel was laughing so hard that she was grabbing her sides and tilting precariously in his lap.

"Oh, but he never ratted me out! He let Burt think that it was him who had drunk the entire bottle and he was grounded for a month." She turned in his lap and hugged him close, fairly pillowing his head between her breasts. "You were always my knight in shining armor!"

They stayed like that for a moment, listening as their friends joked around. His happy bubble was invaded though, upon hearing the DJ call his and Rachel's name. What the? They hadn't signed up for a song.

He looked over to see Jer and Kurt giggling rather maniacally. "What did you two sign us up for?" But they just kept laughing and he reluctantly stood and let Rachel lead him to the stage.

Looking down at the screen, he groaned when he saw that they had signed him and Rachel up for a totally sappy love song, "Up Where We Belong". He sincerely hoped he'd be able to get through this; his tongue was feeling pretty thick in his mouth and he didn't want to make a fool out of himself with Rachel. At least he knew the song; it was from his mom's favorite movie, after all.

"_Who knows what tomorrow brings  
In a world where few hearts survive_"

Rachel nudged him to get his attention and he sang his lines.

"_All I know, is the way I feel,  
When it's real, I keep it alive,  
The road is long, there are mountains in our way,  
But we climb stairs every day_"

Good lord, he felt like an idiot. But it wasn't so bad when Rachel joined him for the chorus.

"_Love lift us up where we belong,  
Where the eagles cry,  
On a mountain high,  
Love lift us up where we belong,  
Far from the world below,  
Where the clear winds blow_

"_Some hanging on to used to be,  
Live their lives, looking behind_"

He looked over at Rachel expectantly as she took it from there, her voice strong and carrying throughout the bar despite the state she was in. He'd lost count of how many drinks he had bought her; he'd order her a water next.

"_All we have, is here and now,  
All our lives, out there to find_"

"_The road is long, there are mountains in our way,  
But we climb the stairs every day_"

"_Love lift us up where we belong,  
Where the eagles cry,  
On a mountain high,  
Love lift us up where we belong,  
Far from the world below,  
Where the clear winds blow_"

They shared a smile and he couldn't help but wonder at how much he had missed singing with her.

"_Time goes by,  
No time to cry,  
Life is you and I alive, baby_

"_Love lift us up where we belong,  
Where the eagles cry,  
On a mountain high,  
Love lift us up where we belong,  
Far from the world below,  
Where the clear winds blow, _

"_Love lift us up where we belong,  
Where the eagles cry,  
On a mountain high..._"

The song ended and they held their note, their eyes locking, and Finn had to keep himself from laughing. But suddenly Rachel's face changed and she dropped her microphone. She turned and ran from the stage, leaving him standing there alone. He walked down, trying to reason it out, but he couldn't come to any good conclusions. He hadn't even tried to kiss her this time!

Mercedes hurried after her. She came out a few minutes later from the direction of the ladies restroom, supporting Rachel. "Well," she announced, "I think Rachel's done."

"I threw up," Rachel told him sheepishly and he immediately felt bad for thinking she had ditched him again.

"That's okay, we'll get you home." He rubbed her back and motioned for the waitress to ring up their tab.

"We're done too," Kurt said, indicating to where Jer sat with his head in his arms. "We're on Rachel's side of town if she wants to ride with us."

"That'll work," Finn said a halfheartedly. He'd been hoping for a reason to take her home himself, but he knew this was for the best. If he and Rachel were going to hook up, it would be the right way. He didn't want her to think that he had taken advantage of her.

They paid their waitress, tipping her generously, and made their way out of the bar. Anthony hailed a cab for Mercedes and himself while the girls said their goodbyes and made promises to see each other soon. A taxi was just pulling up for Kurt and Jer, when Rachel made a mad dash to the nearest trashcan and wretched inside.

"Oh, no!" Jer said. "I am sorry, but these are new shoes and I do not want to share a cab with a woman who can't hold her drink! Hudson, you are going to have to find something to do with her."

Finn sighed and mulled over his options. "I'll take her back to my place," he finally said. "I'm only a few blocks away anyway."

"Finn," Kurt said, his voice low, "I don't think this is a good idea."

"Don't worry; I've already thought this through. Trust me."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Nothing's going to happen, I promise. I'll put her to bed and I'll crash on the futon in my study."

He saw them off and turned back to where Rachel was sitting next to the trashcan, groaning pathetically to herself. "I don't think I can walk," she whimpered.

He leaned down and picked her up. "I've got you. Just let me know if you need to be sick again."

The trek back to his apartment was slow since they had to stop a couple of times for Rachel to hurl, but it seemed like she had cleared her stomach out by the time they got to his building. His doorman eyed them warily as he walked to the elevators, but Finn waved him off. "Don't ask," he called.

He got off on his floor, trying to shush Rachel's moaning so she wouldn't wake his neighbors. "I'm so sorry, Finn," she gasped as he unlocked the door. "I'm so em-em-embarassed."

"Don't be," he insisted, nudging Tank out of the way. Ugh, he would have to take him out real quick before he went to bed.

He carried her to his bedroom and turned down the covers before setting her down. "Hang on just a second, okay?" She nodded groggily and he hurried off to his bathroom. He quickly poured her a small cup of mouthwash, diluted it with water, and grabbed his wastebasket. "Here, Rach. If you feel like getting sick again, _please_ try to make it in here." She nodded obediently.

"Gargle this," he ordered lightly, "but _don't_ swallow. It'll make you feel better." She did as she was told and looked up at him when she was done swishing, her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk's. "Oh, here." He held up the trashcan and let her spit inside.

She lay down as he walked over to his dresser. He pulled out his faded "Beta Theta Pi '15 Rush" t-shirt and set it at the end of the bed. "You can change into this if you want to get a little more comfortable," he murmured. "I've got to take Tank out real quick, but I'll be right back."

"Okay," she answered, her voice muffled by his pillow.

He deftly put Tank's leash on and ran downstairs. Truth be told, he was starting to feel not-so-hot himself. He'd call in sick tomorrow, he thought, while Tank sniffled around him. Besides, it was really late and he wasn't looking forward to waking up in a couple of hours. The way he saw it, only missing one day in two years was just as good as not missing any. Plus Sam was always on his case about getting a life and that she hated seeing his "ugly mug" around the studio all the time. She was kidding of course, but her meaning was clear.

Thank goodness it was already past Tank's bedtime so he finished his business pretty quickly and they were able to go back upstairs. Everything was quiet in the apartment and he crept to his bedroom in order to check on Rachel. Her clothes were in a pile on the floor and she was in his t-shirt, resting peacefully on her side, a hand hanging off the bed. He walked over to turn out the lamp on his nightstand but paused to brush her hair behind her ear and kiss her softly on the cheek.

Tank jumped up on the bed and looked up at him, his tail wagging. "Not tonight, buddy," Finn said, patting the dog on the head fondly. "You stay with her." Tank looked over at Rachel like he understood what Finn had said and plopped down near her feet.

"Good boy," he sighed. He walked into the alcove that he had made into his study and set up the futon. It was one of the last remnants of his college days, having long since bought himself real furniture. He wasn't necessarily looking forward to sleeping on it; it had never been the same since three of his linebacker buddies had caved it in at a Super Bowl party, but it was better than the floor.

He stripped down to his boxers and crawled onto it, lying down at an angle so his feet wouldn't hang off. Crossing his arms behind his head, he sighed and stared up at the ceiling, trying not to think of the woman in his bed as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"_Up Where We Belong" originally appeared on the 1982 soundtrack, __**An Officer and a Gentleman**__. Song written by and copyrighted to Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, with lyrics by Will Jennings._

_**Author's Note: **__I apologize for the long wait. It seemed as if the universe was conspiring against me when it came to getting this chapter out! It was actually supposed to be done and posted on Thursday, but my computer was attacked by one of those really annoying rogue scanners and I ended up having deal with that all night long. It's all cleared up now, but that really caused me to lose my train of thought. Moral of the story: keep your CCleaner, Spybot, and Malwarebytes always updated! Then of course, we went out of town and I hadn't had the chance to work on it until now! I promise the next update will come much sooner._

_Anyway, when I returned, I was surprised to see on Tumblr that __**A Tempo**__ made coryandlea's FanFic List! I'm so happy to be grouped up with who I consider to be the who's who of the Finchel fanfic world. You can check it out at coryandlea(dot)tumblr(dot)com(slash)fanfic (and feel free to check out the rest of her yummy Tumblr while you're at it)._

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	9. Like Monkeys

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Eight: Like Monkeys**

_*Citrus Alert*_

Rachel awoke with a start and took a moment to assimilate herself to her surroundings. This was not her room, this was not her bed, that was not her nightstand, and she had no clue whose body was pushed up against her back. She squeezed her eyes shut in a panic and tried to remember the night before.

She remembered meeting everyone at the bar. She remembered singing "Mamma Mia" with Kurt. She remembered Finn scaring off the stock brokers. She remembered drinking a lot of Crown and Cokes… and from there it started to go fuzzy. Little snippets flashed through her mind – did she stick her head into a trashcan and vomit last night? And had she been floating? No… Finn had been carrying her. Oh no, had she thrown up on him?

Her eyes flew open. Oh. God. Had she slept with Finn?

She looked down and was relieved to see that she was clothed in a t-shirt. And she didn't _feel_ like she had had sex, but she was sure she was sure she was in Finn's bed. Was that him behind her? She wiggled slightly to get a better feel of who was next to her. That certainly didn't feel like Finn. Slowly, she turned around to see who exactly she was sleeping with – or next to, as the case may be.

She was relieved to see it was just Tank stretched out along her side, his head resting on the pillow next to hers. He turned his head with a groan when she moved, his tail thumping twice against her leg before heaving a deep sigh and going back to sleep.

Okay, that mystery solved. But where was said canine's master? She glanced at the clock on the night stand next to her; it was just past eight, perhaps he had left for work. She sat up and fought off a quick wave of dizziness. Her head was pounding and her mouth felt like it was lined with cotton. Ugh, she was _never_ drinking again!

She stood up and slowly shuffled to Finn's bathroom, picking up her clothes from the night before on the way and dropping them next to her purse in a chair in the corner. She flipped on the light and nearly screeched when she saw herself in the mirror. She looked horrific! Her hair was tangled every which way and her makeup was smudged all over her face.

Fortunately she carried a hairbrush in her purse, but she hoped Finn had some sort of face wash that she could use. She found some in his shower and took a few minutes to scrub off the remainder of her eye shadow, gargle some mouthwash, and detangle her hair. So much for looking like a sultry temptress, she thought, she couldn't even get an inebriated Finn into bed with her. Just his dog. His _neutered_ dog for that matter.

She made her way back into the bedroom and through the French doors that led out to his living area. She had been to his apartment once a few weeks ago with the boys and was surprised to see that it was actually very neat and put together. Apparently Kurt had helped him decorate in a tasteful, yet masculine, style and the effect was strangely comforting. Everything he owned was big, from his overstuffed chairs, to his TV, to his king sized bed. It was all very _Finn_.

She retrieved a bottled water from his refrigerator and chugged it down greedily as she looked out the window. It was gray and overcast outside and she vaguely recalled the weatherman saying that they should be expecting scattered showers throughout the next few days. She hoped the weather wasn't hitting Nantucket so that the Michael and Andrew could enjoy themselves.

She sighed resolutely and ditched her bottle into the recycling bin. So much for living life to the fullest until the boys got back. Really, what was the point if you couldn't even remember your actions the next day? She could only pray that she didn't make too big a fool of herself and that Finn would want to see her again. She would give him a call later on this afternoon to see if he wanted to do din– she stopped halfway to his bedroom, her eyes falling on the futon in the alcove that he had designated as his home office.

Finn was stretched out on his back, a leg hanging off the side of the mattress, with an arm thrown over his eyes. Wow, either he was the most chivalrous drunk in the history of the universe or he no longer found her to be sexually appealing in the least. Seeing as how that apparently wasn't his sentiment on Sunday, she could only assume that she had indeed thrown up on him.

Rachel's heart was pounding in her ears as she crept up to the sleeping man, a feeling of anticipation in her stomach. She thought about just cutting her losses and leaving, perhaps saving this for another day, but she knew all too well that she may never get another chance to be with him this way. She had already admitted to herself that she still had feelings for him, and this was her chance to see if those feelings were reciprocated. She was tired of running.

She sat down on the edge of the futon and he moved slightly, shifting over unconsciously. His arm fell to his side and she had to smile. He still looked so much like a little boy as he slept and not at all like a man nearing thirty. Albeit a boy with stubble on his jaw, but a little boy nonetheless. She reached out and ran a hand through his hair, trailing it down to his cheek. He moved his face into her hand, a small smile playing at his lips, and she leaned down to kiss him.

He didn't react at first, so she applied a little more pressure with her mouth, opening it lightly to his. She could tell when conscious thought struck him, and his arms banded around her waist and pulled her down flush against his chest. He tangled a hand in her hair and deepened the kiss, their tongues meeting in an intimate dance.

"Rachel," he whispered against her mouth. "Rachel, _Rachel_."

She pulled back and smiled down into his face. "Good morning," she murmured, placing a kiss on his chin.

"I'm not dreaming?"

"I hope not."

"Good," he groaned, his lips crashing against hers frantically, his hands sliding under her shirt and burning a trail up the smooth skin of her back with his palms. Without breaking contact, Rachel climbed onto the futon, her legs tangling with his. She placed kisses down his neck and nipping lightly at his collar bone. She heard him hiss above her and she positioned herself over him, straddling him with her legs.

But as quickly and violently as they had started, she felt Finn tense under her and place his hands on her shoulders. "Rach, we can't –"

She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked down at him in shock. "What?" she gasped. She felt the color rise in her cheeks and she tried to extricate herself from him, but he stilled her with his hands on her hips.

"Not that we _can't_," he hurried to clarify. "It's just that… you _need_ to be sure. I don't think I can handle you running out on me again."

She nodded. He was right, but she had already thought this over. This was what she wanted. _He _was what she wanted. She'd given up too much of herself this past year to let this opportunity slide through her fingers.

She didn't respond right away, she just sat up on her knees and met his eye as she lowered her hands to the hem of her shirt. She noted triumphantly how his eyes dilated and without a second thought, she whipped the t-shirt up over her head and dropped it to the floor.

She leaned over him, letting her hair curtain his face and paused just short of kissing him. They made eye contact, unspoken questions asked and answered in one poignant gaze, and he smiled up at her certainly. He sat up, pushing her with him, her naked chest against his before finally pulling her face down to his. This time when he kissed her, there was no urgency, just a lingering sweetness that almost brought tears to her eyes and she let him take control.

His mouth moved from her parted lips to her jaw. He nuzzled from the sensitive area below her ear to her neck where her pulse was beating erratically. He brushed his lips here, not kissing, but to and fro, his warm breath tickling her skin. He skimmed her skin, the tip of his nose trailing downwards until he reached her collarbone. He kissed her then, in the shallow hollow, and teased her with his tongue.

She gave a low moan and tangled her shaking fingers in his hair. She arched her back impatiently, torn between pleasure and pain. "Please…"

Finn sighed and turned his fevered eyes up to hers. "I've been dreaming about this for a long time, Rach," he murmured. "I plan on taking my time…" he kissed her mouth again, "…and being as thorough…" he dropped a kiss on her neck, "…as possible."

Rachel felt her pulse surge. How was it that he was making her come completely undone already and he was still able to think clearly and use decidedly un-Finn-like words like "thorough"? Wasn't she the one who had instigated this? She wasn't even sure now and had to bite back a cry of delight when he lowered his head to her breast and began teasing her mercilessly with his tongue and teeth. All lucid thought escaped her and she buried her hands almost roughly in his hair.

She rocked her hips against his, reveling in his low moan of pleasure. He shifted slightly under her and she gasped upon feeling the evidence of his arousal pushing against her through her panties. Smiling against her skin, he trailed his lips along her chest and paid homage to her other breast, whispering endearments she couldn't quite make out in her current state.

He tightened his arms around her waist and, pulling her more firmly against him, he turned to reposition them so that he was on top of her. Suddenly realization struck Rachel hard and she felt herself panic when his hands traced lightly over her breasts and down her sides, lingering at her underwear. This was what she wanted, she told herself. It was her and Finn and everything that she loved right there in her arms.

"Finn," she said, causing his head to snap up from where he had been nuzzling her stomach.

He sighed and met her eye warily. "Is everything alright, Rach? I've got condoms in the –"

"No," she interrupted. "No, it's not that. I mean, I'm on the Pill. It's just that it's… it's been a while for me a-and I just thought you should know."

He grinned and moved back up her body to place a chaste kiss on her lips. "That's okay," he murmured. "We can take it slow."

And then he started the sweetest torture that Rachel could ever imagine. He licked, kissed, and nipped her everywhere she could think of and then some. If she wasn't thoroughly buzzing before, she was now. He took extra time to tease her, running his hands along her thighs but not removing her undergarment, just stopping to kiss her through the thin cotton before continuing his descent. She hadn't known that her instep was so sensitive or thought of how delightful it would feel to have someone's teeth lightly graze her Achilles tendon.

Good. _God_. When they were teenagers it had been about the hasty exploration of each other; all about the destination and not the ride. This was a whole different ballgame. This was about the build-up, the mind numbing pleasure, this was Finn knowing what he was doing and using it all to his advantage. By the time he had removed her panties, she was so far gone, sobbing his name to the ceiling and grabbing at his back and hair and anywhere else she could reach.

When he finally lowered his mouth to her, fingers parting and playing along her oversensitive flesh, she fairly screamed and felt herself come unraveled almost immediately. She let herself ride the wave, closing her eyes tightly against the emotions running through her. She slowly coasted down, trembling with the force of her orgasm, and tried to remind herself to breathe. She opened her eyes to see Finn smiling down at her self-assuredly and she couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of her.

"See, just like riding a bike," he commented, wincing as she ran her hands down his back.

"Are you alright?" she asked, immediately feeling like an idiot. Of course he wasn't alright; she could feel him still stiff as a board through his boxers.

But he just shrugged and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "Someone just clawed up my back. But I'll be fine."

"Oh no!" she gasped. "Finn, I'm so sor–"

He silenced her with his mouth. "It was worth it. Rachel, you are _so _beautiful when you let go like that. I wish you could see it just once."

Rachel was sure her face was already flushed, but she could feel her cheeks burning all the same. "Is there something I can do to make the pain go away?" she asked impishly, sliding her hands down his abdomen and pulling at the elastic of his boxers.

"I can think of a thing or two," he growled. Not waiting for her, he rolled onto his back and hurriedly removed the last article of clothing separating them before resting himself back between her legs. She shifted in order to grant him better access and sighed when she felt him push against her.

"Rachel, I –" Whatever he was about to say was lost as he slowly began to enter her, inch upon inch of pleasure, and she nearly cried out for him to just hurry up already. When he was fully seated within her, he dropped his head to the crook of her shoulder and slowly let out his breath as if he had been holding it. She moved against him impatiently but he stilled her with a hand to her hip. "Just a sec," he commanded gently.

She tried to keep herself from wiggling, but she could already feel that divine pressure building up within her again. "Is-is it the mailman?" she finally asked.

"What?" he mumbled, looking into her face. Then he chuckled and shook his head. "No, I haven't thought of him in years. I was – it's just – it's the same, Rachel."

She didn't understand his meaning, and all coherent thought escaped her when he moved his hips. "Nothing's changed," he murmured against her neck.

Nothing else was said between them – nothing intelligible at least – and he began to move slowly within her. She wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs and pulled herself up to meet him thrust for thrust. She threw her head back, her mouth open in a silent scream as he quickened the pace, reaching higher and filling her completely.

They moved on instinct now. Their groans and cries filled the silent apartment, their lips crushed against each other, and her hands drew down his back as his hard body guided them to completion.

When the tumult came, Rachel wrapped her arms tightly around him, trying to be as close to him as possible, and called his name. She blinked furiously, trying to keep her eyes on him, but soon she was only seeing stars. She felt Finn stiffen above her and groan loudly before falling slack against her, breathing heavily.

They stayed like that for a moment, riding out the aftershocks of their climax together. Then he fell to his side and pulled her with him. He showered kisses along her jaw, on her forehead, and down her nose before coming to a rest on her lips. She lifted her face to him and deepened the kiss, sighing in contentment. She, Rachel Barbra Berry – er, Kutner – still _had _it.

He broke the kiss and wrapped her tightly in his embrace, tucking her head under his chin. She could feel his heart still pounding quickly in his chest. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she closed her eyes, not exactly tired, but exhausted still the same, and mulled over what had just transpired between them.

There was one side effect that she hadn't bothered thinking about when she initially decided she was going to go to bed with Finn. She knew she still had feelings for him, but until this moment she hadn't allowed herself to think of the extent. Perhaps it was just the incredible sex toying with her mind, but Rachel knew the truth. She had known love with two men in her life, one of them being the very same man holding her now. She knew what it felt like to love Finn Hudson and it was the exact same feeling coursing through her now. Except maybe now it was amplified.

There was no use fighting it. She was in love with him. She'd known it the day she met him at the park and she knew it was what she had been fighting this entire time. Had she ever stopped loving him? Probably not. Maybe that's why it was easier to forget her life before David; if she allowed herself to remember what she had wanted before, she never would have been able to let him go. She fully believed it was possible to love two people at the same time, and she wondered if she had loved Finn the entire time she was with her husband.

She sighed and kissed his collar bone. It didn't matter now. What mattered was this moment, this day, and to hell with tomorrow. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that once the boys got back from their vacation things could stay this way. She would continue with her plan to spend the rest of the week and weekend with him and then she would let the natural order of things take over.

"Rach?" she heard him ask huskily and her heart skipped a beat.

"Mhm?"

"Can we move to the bedroom? This futon is really killing by back."

* * *

Finn whistled cheerfully despite his killer hangover and let himself back into his apartment. He leaned down and let Tank off of his leash and threw the bag of bagels he was carrying onto the wet bar. He made his way into the kitchen and took the plastic bag where he kept Tank's rawhide bones out of the pantry. He handed one down to the anxious dog before returning to his bedroom and firmly shutting the doors behind him.

Tank, not used to having company, really hadn't liked being kicked out of the bedroom when he and Rachel had moved from his study, and Finn hoped that would pacify him at least for a little while. He took a moment to smile fondly at the petite woman curled up in the middle of his bed. Sparing a moment to throw off his shirt and drop his pants, he crawled back in behind her and pulled her into his arms. He buried his face into her hair and his eyes almost rolled back in his head as her scent assaulted his senses.

God he'd missed her.

He had never expected for Rachel to come to him like she did, but then again, Rachel never really did what people expected her to do. She always had a way of surprising him, and upon further consideration, he wouldn't mind a few more surprises like that. That had been, hands down, the most mind-blowing sex of his life. He grinned. Well, it had been until they had Round Two in his bed.

He had been hoping against hope for a third round, but then Tank had started whimpering pitifully in the living room and Rachel had insisted he take the dog out for a walk. When he asked if she wanted to come, she just said she needed a little while to recuperate, but she said it with this glint in her eye that made him think that there was hope for Round Three after all.

But right now, with her in his arms, he was starting to see the benefits of a quick nap. They had been out late and up early, after all. And then there was this hangover.

He was just dozing when he felt her fingers trailing up and down the arm he had around her waist. "Is it still raining?" she asked sleepily.

"Yup."

"That's a shame. It doesn't look like we can leave the apartment at all today."

"Leave the apartment?" he grumbled, lifting a hand to cup her breast. "We're not leaving this _bed_."

She turned and sat up on her elbows, the sheet falling to her middle, and Finn felt his mouth go dry. "That's just unproductive!"

"I can think of a few _very_ productive things we can do in bed."

"Uh uh," she said, grabbing the throw blanket from the end of his bed and wrapping it around herself. "I need a shower." He groaned into his pillow but she just made a little face and stood up. "You may be just fine without bathing, Finn Hudson, but I am a lady and I can't abide someone who doesn't have proper grooming habits."

He flopped onto his back and watched as she walked to his bathroom. "The towels are in the linen closet behind the door," he chuckled, closing his eyes.

"Oh, Finn," she called in a singsong voice. He cracked an eye open and saw her standing in the doorway, looking over her shoulder at him. She dropped the throw blanket and smiled at him saucily. "I can think of a few _very _productive things we can do in the shower."

On second thought, maybe a shower didn't seem so bad after all.

* * *

"Ugh," she groaned into his chest. "I don't want to go home."

"Hm?" They were lying on the couch in his living room watching the evening news. Rachel was lying completely on top of him and Finn had his hands up her shirt, rubbing circles along her back. It had been a completely hedonistic day, spent lazing around and making love.

They'd finally left the bedroom a couple hours back to scrounge for food in his kitchen. He'd told her to grab a shirt from his closet, the t-shirt she had worn that morning laying forgotten somewhere in the apartment. When she emerged from his room wearing nothing but one of his button-up shirts, he'd nearly accosted her right there in the living room and the grilled cheese he was preparing was burnt beyond all hope.

Even though the shirt was now worse for wear (they'd lost several buttons in their urgency to get it off of her), she'd never felt more attractive. She'd always wanted to lounge around like this, but all of David's shirts were from Bergdorf Goodman and he'd hardly let her touch them, much less wear one. How it was that she could love two men so completely different from one another, she would never know.

"I'll have to leave in a little while," she said quietly. "We both have work tomorrow."

"What time do you go in?"

"Not until ten thirty."

"Well then, just stay here," he suggested hopefully. "You can get up with me and head back to your apartment to get ready in the morning."

"Are you sure?" she asked, pushing herself up on her elbows.

"Sure I'm sure." He reached up and pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "I want you to stay."

She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. "Well, if you're positive."

They lay in silence for a few more minutes and listened to the rain pattering on the windows. "What time do you get off?" he asked.

"I just work the lunch shift tomorrow. I'm off at four thirty."

"Maybe we can do something nice for dinner and catch or show or something. Would you like that?"

She giggled. "You're not sick of me yet?"

"If you want me to get sick of having you around, Rach, you're going at from the wrong angle," Finn teased. "What do you say?"

"It does sound like fun."

"Good," he said, turning off the television and sitting up. He stood and lifted Rachel up into his arms and she threw her head back with laughter.

"What are you doing?" she asked, although she had a feeling.

"Well, the way I see it, we've got to get up early tomorrow morning. And I fully plan on loving you senseless at least two more times tonight, so we may as well get started."

She smiled mischievously and placed a kiss on his cheek before whispering, "I can't wait."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Poor Tank._

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	10. A Promise

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Nine: A Promise**

And then it ended as quickly as it began.

Okay, so maybe she was being a little dramatic. Or very dramatic. Either way, the gloomy weather was not helping Rachel's mood as she walked back to her apartment after her shift on Saturday night. She looked at the time on her phone. Never mind, Sunday morning. Her week with Finn was officially over.

If only she had just gone with the flow the previous Sunday, then maybe she would have him out of her system by now. But no, after that glorious day on Thursday, she was left only wanting more. And then he just had to make things more wonderful by taking her out on Friday night. She hadn't been to a Broadway show since… well she couldn't really remember. A few months before David died, she supposed. It had been an amazing show too; he'd been able to get tickets through Kurt for this new Baz Lurhmann-esque musical that she'd been dying to see.

It had been absolutely spectacular, albeit a little bittersweet. She tried to ignore the nagging feeling of longing as she watched the performers onstage. It should have been her up there; she was sure she could have out sung the lead in a heartbeat. But when Finn took her hand in his and brushed a light kiss across her knuckle, all thoughts of ambushing the actress in a back alley and bludgeoning the poor girl with her Louis Vuitton dissipated into nothingness and for a moment it was only she and Finn sitting in the theater.

He took her to a very fancy restaurant and they spent hours just talking and laughing about everything important and nothing in particular. Sure, he'd ordered the wrong wine to go with their meal, but she hadn't been catered to like that in a long, long time. And then they'd hurried back to his apartment where he showed her that remaining vertical was just as fun as getting horizontal.

Of course, he totally overlooked the fact that she had worn her fanciest lingerie for him, but he'd fairly gone down on her in the elevator so by the time they had gotten to his eleventh-floor abode, she was beyond caring. They didn't even make it to the bedroom their first go-round. He just hiked her dress up, unzipped his pants and they went at it right there in his front foyer, much to the confusion of Tank and probably to the consternation of any of his neighbors that may have walked by. Needless to say, she'd been walking around pretty stiffly the past few days.

She'd spent way too much time with him in the shower that morning and then said her goodbyes. He'd laughed at her sullen expression, saying it was only for the rest of the day and then he would see her and the boys on Sunday, but he just didn't understand. Now she was walking back to her empty apartment, a light rain steadily hitting her umbrella and soaking her work shoes.

She squished her way slowly up the stairs and propped her umbrella by her door in order to dig her keys out of her purse. She put the key in the lock and panicked slightly when the knob turned easily. She _never_ forgot to lock up behind her. She picked up her umbrella to use as a weapon in case there was an intruder inside and pushed the door open.

At first she thought her apartment was on fire until she realized that someone had lit at least a dozen tea candles and placed them around her living room. She poked her head inside just as Finn stepped out of her kitchen, a big smile on his face.

"Hey, Rach," he laughed. "Are you going to beat me with your umbrella?"

"H-how did you get in?" she stammered, incredibly relieved to see him standing there.

"You gave me an extra key, remember? When I took the boys to the baseball game? I just forgot to give it back." He planted a kiss on her forehead and took her umbrella and purse from her.

"But why?"

He led her to the sofa and began taking her soggy shoes off. "You seemed pretty bummed this morning, so I figured I'd come make sure you're okay."

"What's up with the candles? And what's that smell?"

"Can't a guy do something nice for his…" he paused and shrugged, "well, you know. I just thought since the boys are coming home tomorrow, we wouldn't have as much time for just the two of us, so we should take advantage of the quiet while we could." He stood and pulled her up into his arms. "I made some pancakes if you're hungry. They're not perfectly round or anything, but they should taste pretty good. Or if you're really tired and want to get off your feet, I stole this lavender bath stuff from Kurt."

Before he could say anything else that would just make her love him more, she pulled his face down to hers and silenced him with a kiss. "Thank you," she whispered when they pulled apart.

He buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply. "Anything to see you happy, Rach."

"So what were you saying about pancakes?"

"In the kitchen." After brushing his lips across her brow, her let her go and headed to the bathroom. "Help yourself while I let the water run."

"Oh, Finn Hudson," she called after him, "you sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet!" She spotted the pile of asymmetrical pancakes next to her stove and helped herself.

"What's up with your shower handle?" he yelled from the bathroom.

"Don't even get me started. I've asked my super to fix it a million times but he still hasn't been up," she replied as she smeared her pancakes with peanut butter, opting to leave off the bananas since it was late. She had enough to worry about without having weird dreams all night. Finn shuffled in a few minutes later and grabbed the remaining pancakes. He took the seat across from her and smothered them in syrup, hiding a yawn behind his hand when he was through.

"It's very late," Rachel commented. "You didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"No trouble." He smiled crookedly at her. "I'm a nice guy, I like doing nice things."

They laughed quietly and ate the rest of their meal in companionable silence. "Oh, what did you do with Tank?" she asked as she stood to gather their dishes. "He can't like being alone this late."

He stood with her, grabbing the dinnerware from her and taking them to the sink. "I left him with Kurt and Jer for the night."

"Mm," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek on his back as he rinsed the dishes. She was just thinking that she could stay like that all night when Finn shut off the water and turned in her arms.

"You're not going to hop in the bath?" he asked. "The water's probably nice and hot by now."

"I was hoping you'd join me."

He looked doubtful. "I'd love to Rach, but I doubt I'll fit in your tub."

She stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his mouth. "Where there's a will, there's a way, right?" Without waiting for his reply, she took his hand and led him to the bathroom. She stripped down to her undergarments and pulled her hair up into a messy bun while he readied the bath.

"Here goes nothing," she heard him mutter as he removed his clothing and stepped into the tub. She giggled and ran into the living room while he was getting situated to grab a few tea candles and arranged them around her small vanity. Then, for good measure, she ran to her room and grabbed her old clock radio, setting it to a soft rock station. She turned off the light, finished undressing, and walked over to the bathtub.

"That bubble bath really does smell good," she observed, taking his hand as she stepped carefully between his legs. "Don't let me slip."

"Just don't step on anything I may need later, and we'll be good."

It took a few minutes of squirming around to get comfortable, but it was all worth it in the end as she lay back against Finn's chest, his arms around her. She sighed in contentment and ran her fingers up and down his arm. "This is nice."

He murmured his approval and kissed her temple. She closed her eyes and savored being in his arms. Maybe this thing between them _could_ work. She had promised herself not to expect too much, but didn't his actions over the last few days prove that this was more than just sex? It would be difficult, obviously, to maintain a relationship under the circumstances, but they'd done it before. They'd been the jock and the freak and they'd made it work, and that was _high school_. They were adults now. Besides, she was the one who had screwed it up the first time.

"What time do the boys get back tomorrow?" he asked after a few minutes of quiet.

"Probably sometime after lunch. Maura said she'd call before she drops them off."

"We should do a welcome back dinner or something with them. They'll probably be tired, but we can order some pizzas and have a nice night in."

"Yeah," she said, uncertainty lacing her voice. "Finn, when the boys get back it probably wouldn't be wise for us to… for _you_ to…"

"I know, Rach. I won't stay over when they're around. We'll keep it PG in front of them."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Well, you know, as long as we can keep it PG-13 behind their backs," he joked. She giggled, relief rushing over her. They were talking, albeit tentatively, about a future. She was starting to feel better and better about their being a _them_. "What kind of things did you and David do?"

"Excuse me?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him. This was the first time he had ever asked her anything upfront about David and she wasn't quite sure _exactly_ what he was asking, especially considering the context of their previous conversation.

"With the boys, I mean, not in… you know."

"Oh! Well, you know," she shrugged and sat up, "the usual kind of things. Museums… the park… things we could do when David had some time off. He worked a lot, so it was usually just us and the nanny."

"A nanny?" Finn scoffed incredulously. Then he cleared his throat awkwardly. "You really had a nanny?"

"Yup. A _Swedish_ nanny. With jugs out to here," she laughed, motioning with her hands and Finn chuckled appreciatively.

"Really though, David was a good dad… a good _person_. He just had expensive tastes. I'm making it now, barely, but I am. And it will be better when school starts." She was mostly speaking to herself now, but the feel of his hands rubbing her back gave her the confidence to continue. "Once school starts and I'm teaching again, things won't be so hectic. I don't have as many debts to pay off this year and I'll be able to put more money away, so hopefully I won't have to work at the restaurant anymore after next summer."

"If you need any help, Rach, you just have to ask me."

"No," she said quickly. "I'm doing this on my own. Not that I don't appreciate the offer."

He pulled her back so that she was reclining against him again and hugged her tightly. "You're tough. If anyone can do this, it's you, Rachel."

Letting her eyes drift closed, she rested her head back against chest. "Thank you, Finn," she murmured as they lapsed into silence again. She must have been dozed off because when she came to, she could hear Finn softly singing along to the radio.

"…_sailed on together,  
We drifted apart,  
And here you are by my side_

"_So now I come to you, with open arms,  
Nothing to hide…_"

"I think Journey is going to haunt us for the rest of our lives," she said.

She felt him laugh and he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, Journey's an _amazing_ group. Besides, they kind of brought us together, huh?"

"Hm, I suppose they did."

"Are you ready to get out?"

She lifted a hand out of the water. "My fingers are suitably wrinkled."

She levered herself up carefully with Finn's help and reached for her towel. She turned to look down at him when she heard him snicker and he met her eye with a sly grin. No wonder, she'd been waving her bottom in his face for the past minute and he'd always been a little bit of a butt and leg man. She sniffed primly and wrapped the towel around herself and stepped out of the tub.

She hurried to her room, sure he would be right on her heels, dropped her towel and flopped down on the bed. She could hear him shuffling about, blowing out candles in the living room, and she fully expected him to pounce on her once he got to the bedroom, but instead he lay down and pulled her into his arms.

"This isn't exactly what I was expecting," she murmured into his neck.

"You're tired, Rach," he said quietly. "And I'm not a total horn dog."

"Oh really?" she asked, her hand sliding down his abdomen, her hand finding and gripping him firmly in the dark. He hadn't exactly stopped to put on any clothes on his way to the bedroom. "So what's this? A tire iron?"

He shrugged and she could hear the smile in his voice. "I said not a _total_ horn dog, but you better knock it off before I stop being such a nice guy."

She pressed her lips to his and stroked him wantonly. "Maybe I don't want a nice guy right now."

He laughed out loud, but it was strained. "Alright, but you asked for it."

* * *

Rachel hummed to herself as she worked quickly over the stove. She and Finn had slept in and he had just jumped in the shower while she made them breakfast. She was slicing some oranges when there was a sharp knock on the door. She glanced at the clock; it was only ten thirty and Maura hadn't called yet, so she assumed it was Mrs. Nedry looking for one of her cats again.

"Mama!" two voices called out when she pulled the door open, and she was nearly thrown back by the force of her sons throwing themselves around her legs.

"Hey guys!" she laughed, leaning down to hug and kiss her sons profusely. She almost cried in her happiness to see them. "You're home early!"

"Yes," Maura said, pushing her way into the apartment. "Benjamin's sisters decided to have it out last night, so we opted to leave early. Have you made any coffee?"

"Um… yeah, I've got some on in the kitchen." She threw a worried glance at the bathroom door; she could still hear the shower running and she hoped that Finn would hear them and not come out until Maura left.

"Really, Rachel," Maura said, a look of distaste on her face, "I cannot believe you're still lazing about in your robe. Were you planning on changing today?"

She was about to reply, but Andrew ran up and began jumping around excitedly. "Look, _look _Mama! We got you presents!"

"You did?" She gasped in exaggerated delight as he handed her a perfect little conch shell.

"And I found you these," Michael said, placing a few sand dollars in her hand.

"Oh! Thank you, they're beautiful! I'm going to put them right in here on the shelf," she said, placing them next to a picture of David and Michael at the ice rink. "So, did you have fun? Did you behave yourselves?"

"Yup!" Andrew said, before going into a play-by-play of what they did the entire week. She threw periodic glances at the bathroom door, willing Finn to read her thoughts.

"What's up with all the candles?" Michael cut in. "And who's in the bathroom?"

"Um, just a friend."

"Are we interrupting something, Rachel?" Maura asked over her cup of coffee. Seriously, what was she still doing here? Couldn't she stop at Starbucks or something?

She shook her head emphatically and pulled her most innocent expression. "No, not at all. Where's Benjamin?"

"He's down in the car. I told him I would be a few minutes."

"Well, if you have anywhere to be, you're more than welcome to take your coffee with you. I'll just get the cup back from you another time."

Maura squinted at her suspiciously. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No, I just don't want Benjamin to become impatient."

"I can handle Ben."

Then, her worst fear came to life as she heard the bathroom door click and her mother-in-law raised an eyebrow archly. It was even worse when she turned around; Finn was standing just outside the bathroom door, frozen in place, clad only in a towel. He met her gaze with a panicked one of his own and she could feel the heat in her cheeks. She would have facepalmed herself if Maura wasn't watching her so closely.

"Finn!" Andrew screamed, flinging himself at Finn's legs.

Michael actually looked up at him jovially and smiled. "Hey Finn."

"Uh, hey guys." He clutched frantically at the towel to hold it in place and patted Andrew's head awkwardly.

"Michael, Andrew, how about you guys take your stuff into your room and I'll be in there to help you pack shortly," she suggested. They both groaned, but did as they were told and she shut their door quickly behind them.

"So you're the famous Finn," Maura said, stepping forward. "I've heard a lot about you. I'm Maura Kutner, Rachel's mother-in-law."

Finn laughed nervously and glanced at Rachel, but she couldn't quite meet his eyes at the moment. "It's… um… very nice to meet you." He tightened his grip on the towel and held out his hand to Maura, but she merely looked him up and down. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I left my bag…" He motioned to Rachel's bedroom with his head.

"Of course," Maura said.

"It was very nice to meet you," he said and Rachel almost screamed in humiliation when he turned to go into her room, displaying the red scratch marks down his back to Maura.

"The pleasure was all mine."

They stood in silence for a moment, Maura sipping her coffee and observing Rachel critically. When she was finished, she walked into the kitchen and left the mug in the sink.

"Well, this is very disconcerting," she said when she came back. Rachel didn't respond and just stared at her in consternation. "I really think we should reevaluate our agreement after this little debacle."

"What do you mean, Maura?" Rachel asked, a feeling of dread washing over her.

"I no longer believe that this is a suitable environment for my grandsons to be raised in."

It was all Rachel could do to keep herself from flinging herself at the older woman and scratching her eyes out. And she wasn't even a violent person! "Are you threatening me?"

"Are you denying that this is an appropriate scene for Michael and Andrew to be witnessing?"

"Not at all, but if you had called –"

"I shouldn't need to call ahead of time just for you to shuffle your lovers out the door before I bring your children home," Maura snapped, her normally cool demeanor slipping.

"How _dare_ you?" Rachel hissed as she fought to keep her voice down. "You make it sound as if I have men in here all the time. There is no revolving door to this apartment, I can assure you. And Finn is a good man. He's good to me and the boys."

"Oh, what business is he in? Can he support you? Can he pay their tuition?"

"He's in television. He's a producer for _Sam in the City_. They'll be taking it national in a few months," she said proudly.

"A menial program," Maura countered.

"Well, I'm sorry you don't approve of the company I keep, Maura, but this is my life and I can see whomever I want whenever I like!"

"I'm just telling you to consider your options," Maura said. She turned and headed to the door. "I'd hate for this to become a legal matter." At that, she opened the door and left.

Rachel stared after her in shock before blindly heading to the kitchen. She began throwing away the breakfast she had been preparing, banging pots and pans furiously in the sink.

"Rachel, _Rachel_," Finn said, coming up behind her, fully dressed, thank God, and forced her to turn around. "I am so sorry."

He continued talking, but her eyes fell on Michael and Andrew peeping out worriedly from their room. "It's okay, boys," she called, cutting Finn off. "I'll be there to help you unpack in a minute."

Deep down, she knew that she was irrationally blaming Finn; this wasn't his fault, but he was still the last person she wanted to see at the moment. She knew, she just _knew_, that something like this was going to happen. _This_ was her reality, _this_ was what she had been hoping to avoid.

"Rachel, those were empty threats. I can tell you right now that no judge in his right mind would take those kids away from you. You're crazy about them and –"

"Please leave."

He looked at her dubiously, caught off guard. "Huh?"

"I need you to go now, Finn."

"Um… okay." He ran his hand down his face and looked back to where Michael and Andrew were still staring at them from their bedroom. "I'll go, but can I come back later? Can I call you? I don't want to leave it like this, Rach."

"It doesn't matter," she said hollowly. "I just need to think."

He nodded his head slowly and turned away from her. He walked over to her bedroom and grabbed his duffle bag before heading to the entry. "Please call me, Rachel," he said. "If you need anything –"

She shook her head dismissively. "Thank you, Finn."

He gave her one last pleading glance before walking out, shutting the door gently behind him. She sat down desolately on the couch and tried her best to stave off the sobs she felt bubbling in her throat.

"Is Finn coming back, Mama?" Andrew asked from the doorway.

"Probably not, baby," she whispered achingly.

* * *

"You look like crap," Jer said in lieu of a traditional hello upon opening the door.

"Thanks," Finn said mechanically. His head was still spinning from what had happened at Rachel's apartment and, in all honesty, he couldn't recall the trip from her place to Kurt and Jer's.

He dropped his bag to the floor and followed Jer to the living room, completely walking past his excited dog.

"Dude are you okay? You seem a little out of it."

"Can I have a beer?"

Jer glanced worriedly at the clock and shook his head. "It's not even noon, Finn. Do you want to go out? Since the weather's cleared up, I was thinking about taking Tank and Sir Humps-a-lot to the dog park –"

"Jeremy!" Kurt yelled from the bedroom. "Have you seen my lavender-scented bubble bath?"

Jer groaned. "No! Maybe you used it all."

"It was a brand new bottle!"

"Well, I don't know! You know I don't use that crap!" He looked at Finn. "Have you seen his lilac body wash?"

"It's lavender bubble bath, Jer," Kurt said huffily as he flounced out of the bedroom in his robe, a white mask on his face. "And why would Finn know where it is? He wouldn't know the difference between a moisturizer and an exfoliating face mask."

Finn wisely didn't say anything. He had enough going on with just the _one_ drama queen; he didn't need Kurt digging into him too. He'd buy him a new bottle later.

Jer pretended he didn't hear Kurt and turned back to him. "So, as I was saying, the dog park?"

"The dog park sounds great," Finn agreed without much feeling.

They quickly gathered up their stuff and walked in silence to the dog park a couple blocks away from the apartment, which was just fine with him. He wasn't in much of a talking mood.

"So…" Jer drawled once they were settled. They watched as Tank and a Dalmatian started playing tug-of-war with a stick and Pablo ran up to the first Yorkie he could find and began humping away. "What's up?"

"What's up with what?"

"With bi-polar Finn. Seriously dude, one day you're all emo, the next you're on Cloud Nine, and then today you're all depressed alcoholic. It's getting a little exhausting."

"Rachel and I – well, we didn't have a _fight_, but something weird happened and I don't know what to do about it."

"Please don't tell me you had drunk sex with a widowed mother!"

"What? No, we didn't have sex…"

Jer looked at him skeptically. "Okay, maybe we had sex, but it wasn't drunk sex." Jer continued to stare at him without saying anything. "It was more like hangover sex… and then really great date night sex… and then last night it was just kinda lazy, tired sex."

"You are a moron," Jer said, leaning forward. "So, what happened to make it awkward? Did the kids walk in on you or something?"

"Worse. Her mother-in-law."

"_Shit_."

"No kidding. I was coming out of the shower and I was in my towel, but she got all rude with Rachel and threatened to take her kids away and then Rachel asked me to leave. I mean, I know I screwed up, I should have realized that someone was in the other room with her, but I don't know what she wants me to do about it. I said I was sorry."

Jer nodded his head in understanding. "So you think sorry's going to cut it?"

"Well… no, but I don't know what to _do_."

"Okay, I'm no psychoanalyst or anything, but here's what I think. Those kids are the only thing she's got. She's going to be putting her relationship with them and the in-laws on the line by being with you. She's going to need something a little more substantial than 'I'm sorry'."

Finn rubbed his temples and tried to soak in what Jer was saying. Sure, he caught onto things a lot more quickly now as an adult, but sometimes he still had to take a minute and _process_. "Yeah, okay."

"Do you want to be in a relationship with her?"

"Well… yeah. I mean, I care about her _a lot_. I always have."

"Alright then, I'm going to ask you this point blank: do you want to be a dad?"

That caught him off guard. "What? What does that have to do with anything?"

Jer scoffed and leaned back in the bench, his hands behind his head. "In case you haven't noticed, she's got two little kids that probably need a father figure in their lives. But you just can't be all buddy-buddy with them. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, can you do the tough stuff like, I don't know, making sure they grow up to be stellar human beings?"

Finn sighed. Sure, he wanted kids… his own kids even. But he liked Michael and Andrew; he liked having them around and being in their lives.

"I don't know, man," Jer said, snapping him out of his reverie. "I don't know what you're waiting for. It's like you're doing all this other stuff so you can avoid having to focus on your life. I mean, I don't know Rachel that well, but I know Audra. If you're looking for perfect, then you already found it and lost it. But from what I hear from Kurt and what I've seen over the past few weeks, you're really into Rachel. So, you're going to have to take a little bit of responsibility and do what you gotta do in order to make it work."

He nodded his head slowly. Jer was right, of course. Rachel needed more than a couple nice dates to prove to her that he was serious about this. That he was worth the trouble he'd put her through. He was going to have to keep trying, no matter how hard Rachel tried to push him away.

Because _she_ was worth it. Michael and Andrew were worth it. They all were.

* * *

She was still feeling awful as she sorted the boys' clothes later that evening. They were watching TV, exhausted from their trip and she kept doing double takes at them. They were so tan compared to when they left; they looked like two different little children.

"What's for dinner?" Michael grumbled from his spot on the couch.

"I don't know. What do you want?"

"Is Finn coming back, Mama?" Andrew asked for the millionth time that day.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Andy, you've asked that a million times already! She said _no_."

"He said he was coming back though."

"Well, he lied."

"Guys," Rachel sighed, tired of the bickering, "he didn't _lie_."

"Can we have pizza for dinner?" Andrew asked, changing the subject.

She opened her mouth to answer, only to be cut off by a knock on the door. "Pizza delivery!" someone called from the other side.

"_Wow_!" Michael laughed, sitting up.

Andrew jumped up and hurdled to the door. "No, Andrew!" Rachel called, dropping the clothes to the floor and running after him. "I didn't order a pizza."

She grabbed him around the waist and lifted him up before opening the door a crack. "Finn's got pizza!" Andrew yelled, squirming in her arms. "I told you, Michael, I _told_ you."

"Hey, Rach," Finn said, squatting down so that he was eye level with her. "Can I come in?"

"I don't know, Finn..."

"Come on, I've got pizza. I even got a Vegan Veggie Lover's Delight… or something like that." He placed a foot in the way so she couldn't close the door. "I can wait out here all night, I don't mind."

"Come on, Mama," Michael said, weaseling his way between her and the door. "I'm hungry!"

She stepped back and let him pry the door the rest of the way open. "Thank you," he said, plucking the pizzas out of Finn's hands and taking them to the kitchen.

"What kind did he get?" Andrew shouted after his brother and Rachel put him back down so he could follow.

She bit her lip and looked down at her feet as they stood in silence in the entryway. "Rach," Finn said quietly, and before she knew it was pulled into his tight embrace. "I'm sorry about this morning."

"No, I'm sorry," she whispered into his chest. "I overreacted. It wasn't your fault. Neither one of us could have known Maura was going to surprise us like that."

"We'll get better at this."

She nodded and looked up into his face. He leaned down and placed a tentative kiss on her mouth. She placed her hand at the back of his neck so that he wouldn't stop, and pecked him lightly on the lips a few times before finally pulling away.

"Mo-_om_!" Michael called. "Are you going to eat?"

Hand-in-hand they walked into the kitchen.

"Watch it bud," Finn said, grabbing the plates from Michael, who was balancing them precariously them in his arms. Just as they had planned previously, they had a quiet dinner, watching cartoons with the boys in front of TV. Rachel was surprised that when it came to be bath and bedtime, Finn actually volunteered to help while she ran down to the basement to get some of the laundry she had been doing.

He did fairly well, even if it was a little discomforting for them both when Andrew walked out of his bedroom stark naked and ready for his bath. Finn's face turned bright red and she had to laugh at his expression as he followed Andrew into the bathroom.

When she came back up, he was already putting Andrew in bed and she could hear Michael in the shower. They shared a small smile as he tucked her son in and she returned to the living room to continue folding. She stood upon finishing and walked to the boys' room, laundry basket in hand, but stopped when she heard Michael and Finn talking quietly as not to wake Andrew.

"You've really never been to Disney World before?" Michael asked incredulously.

"Nope," Finn said. "Me and my mom never really had the money."

"Oh." Michael was quiet for a moment and Rachel, intrigued by what they might have to talk about, sat down just beside the doorway and listened. "My dad took us before he died. Andrew doesn't remember though."

"No?"

"He doesn't really remember our dad."

Finn made a thoughtful noise in his throat. "I don't remember my dad either."

"What happened to him?"

"He was in the Army. There was a war and he died," Finn said softly. "I was just a baby. I couldn't even walk or talk yet."

"So you don't even remember him _at all_?"

"Nope. But that's okay because I had a mom like yours. She was tough and made sure I didn't come out too badly. You want to know something though?"

"Hm?"

"Well, you're really lucky because you _can_ remember him and all the special times you guys had. And Andy's even luckier."

"Why's that?" Michael whispered.

"Because he's got a great brother like you to tell him how great your dad was. I would have killed for a brother like you when I was growing up," said Finn, leaning over to ruffle Michael's hair.

Rachel drew in a shaky breath and tried in vain to keep from crying. She'd never heard Michael talk so openly about David to anyone like that since his death. And Finn was saying all the right things.

"Time for bed now, bud."

"'kay. Are you going to come get us after work tomorrow?"

"Sure thing, we'll grab dinner and hang out until your mom gets home."

She heard Finn moving to the door. "Hey, Finn," Michael called.

"What's up?"

"Remember what we talked about… at the baseball game?"

Finn hesitated a moment before replying. "Yup."

"Well, I was thinking and..." Michael paused a second before continuing, "…if you want to be my mom's boyfriend, that's okay with me."

Finn laughed softly. "Thanks, Michael. I really appreciate that."

"Good night, Finn."

"Night," he called back, shutting off the light and softly closing the door behind him. He stopped short upon seeing her sitting on the floor crying.

"Thank you," she sniffled. "I think he really needed to hear that."

"Hey, don't cry," he murmured sitting down in front of her and taking her into his arms.

"It's just so hard sometimes," she sobbed, "and I never know what to say."

"You're doing a great job, Rach," he insisted. He rocked her back and forth and stroked her hair until she calmed down.

She tried to laugh it off as she pulled away, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. "I'm sorry. I know I'm a mess. I really don't know why you put up with me."

"You _know_ why. Because I love you, Rach." She looked up at him in shock, but he just shrugged and smiled at her. "I don't know where this is going. I don't know where we'll be next year or even next month. But I know I love you and I promise that I will _never_ do anything to hurt you or your boys."

Slowly she smiled up at him and suddenly everything was better. Everything from this morning was just a triviality and, no matter what, she had Finn and this moment. She couldn't say where they were going with their relationship either, but she had his promise, and for now that was all she needed.

She fell back into his arms and hugged him tightly, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart. They stayed like that for a while, not moving or saying anything, just sitting on the floor outside of her sons' room and holding each other like they would never let go.

"Finn?" she finally said after a few minutes. His hold on her strengthened and he placed a kiss on the crown of her head. "I love you too."

* * *

"_Open Arms" originally appeared on Journey's 1981 release, __**Escape**__. Song written by and copyrighted to Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain._

_**Author's Note: **__And I love all of you… On that note, I hope you all enjoyed the fluff because from here on out, it's gonna be duh-RAMA!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	11. The Good News

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Ten: The Good News**

_*Citrus Alert*_

Finn winced as the bed creaked ominously and threw a worried glance at the open bedroom door, just waiting for Michael or Andrew (or worse, _both_) to burst into the room. He heard nothing but silence, save for Rachel's soft laughter as she placed a hand at his neck and pulled his face down to hers.

"They're _very_ deep sleepers," she assured him just before crushing her lips against his in a mind numbing kiss.

So far they'd been very good about him not being around when the boys woke up in the morning, but now that they were sharing a cabin in the middle of the woods – an impromptu trip Finn had planned so that Rachel could enjoy a little time off with the boys – it seemed like all bets were off. Oh, he'd behaved himself the night before, sleeping uncomfortably on the lumpy sofa in the living room, but tonight Rachel had practically attacked him on his way out of the shower and dragged him into her room. Before he knew it, his girlfriend was standing before him completely naked, having spared only a moment to shimmy her little nightgown down her body.

Somehow they'd made it to the bed (how he'd lost his pajamas bottoms, he'd never know) and things were getting pretty hot and heavy, aside from the squeaking mattress. He hadn't to perform under this kind of pressure since he and Jer had lived together, and for some reason, the thought of Rachel's kids catching him going out it with their mom was a little more unnerving than having a roommate bang on the wall to the rhythm of his squeaking mattress and shout words of encouragement. But here he was, still going at it like a damn _monkey_ with Rachel while the boys and Tank slept soundly in the room next door.

She threw him a sexy smile in dim light and forced him onto his back, her hand gripping him tightly and causing his eyes to nearly bulge out of his head. Slowly she kissed her way down his chest and stomach, lingering at his lower abdomen, and then planted a light kiss on his straining erection. And then she was doing that thing with her tongue that she did so well and then, oh God, he had never been more thankful for her lack of a gag reflex than right there at that moment. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out.

Maybe it was the thrill of being caught or the fact Rachel was so incredibly hot (or it could have just been that _other_ thing that she was doing with her finger), but he knew that he wasn't going to last very long at this rate, so he buried his hands in her hair and pulled her back up so that he could take control. She always liked it when he got all assertive and stuff, he just hoped that she could keep herself from yelling at the top of her lungs.

He'd just gotten her on her back and after a few perfunctory kisses, he lowered his head to her breast and began worrying a pouty nipple between his teeth. Damn he loved her boobs. Sure they weren't double Ds or anything, but who needed those when they had Rachel Berry – damn it, _Kutner_ – underneath him? She started making those little noises that he loved so much and, hoping that she wouldn't get too loud, he dropped a hand between her legs.

Satisfied that she was _definitely_ good to go, he buried himself deep within her, nearly groaning out loud when he felt her muscles tighten around him. He pulled out nearly all the way and hovered at her entrance just long enough to make her squirm before slowly pushing back into her. He repeated the action, smiling when she moaned lowly in her throat. Gradually he quickened his pace, reveling in the small whining sounds she was making, her heated gaze boring into his, her hands squeezing his ass, her heels digging into his back, and she was so, so close, he could tell by the way she was biting her lip, and then she coming, taking him with her, and he was just about to give in when in the back of his mind, he registered a soft padding in the hallway.

He froze and placed a hand over her mouth to quiet her harsh panting. Together they turned their heads and watched as Michael walked past the bedroom door and into the restroom. They stayed like that as the boy shuffled around in the bathroom, Finn hoping that the pounding in his chest wasn't really as loud as it was in his ears. The toilet flushed and the bathroom door opened again, the light shining briefly on them until Michael turned it off, scratched his face sleepily, and made his way back to his bedroom.

Finn allowed himself to relax and buried his face in the pillow Rachel had her head on, groaning loudly as he came, joining her at the tail end of her own orgasm. He felt her shoulders shaking and thinking that she was going to let him have it, he braced himself. Instead he heard her gasp and pulled back weakly to look down into her laughing face.

"That… was... _exhilarating_!" she giggled, placing kisses all over his face.

"For _you_, maybe." He pulled out of her and flopped onto his back, the mattress groaning beneath him. "Do you know what I just did? You're lucky I didn't explode."

This only added to her amusement, the bed shuddering as she laughed silently. "I'm sorry," she murmured once she had gotten a hold of herself. She scooted over so that she was lying partially on top of him. Lazily, she planted kisses a long his jaw and neck, her hand moving slowly up and down his abdomen. "You just had your shirt off nearly all day today and I got a little worked up. Then you went all hunter and gatherer… it was very _primal_."

He grinned smugly knowing that just taking his shirt off could get her all hot and bothered. He'd have to keep that in mind for future use. "What do you mean 'hunter and gatherer'?" he teased, pulling her tightly against him. "It was just catch and release."

They'd spent nearly all day on this pontoon boat he rented and he'd taught the boys to fish. After a whole lot of protesting, he'd even got Rachel to join after he promised that they would throw all their catches back. She did refuse to bait her own hook, but he took what he could get. In the end, she ended up with the biggest catch of the day, and rubbed it in their faces in true Rachel fashion.

"And you cooked," she added.

"I grilled soy patties. I think that kinda kills the manliness of it."

"Finn?"

"Hm?"

"Shut up and take the compliment," she demanded. "I thought it was sexy." Her hand trailed lower. "_Very _sexy."

He drew in a sharp intake of breath as she reached beneath the sheets and fondled him expertly. She fluttered her eyes up at him innocently as she stroked, and sooner than he thought possible, he felt himself grow hard in her hand. "Is it alright if I just take a moment to show my boyfriend just how much I _appreciate_ everything he's done lately?"

His mouth went dry and he nodded dumbly. He let his head fall back against the pillows, letting Rachel take over, closing his eyes at the onslaught of the sensations she was stirring within him. He stayed in the bedroom with her for most of the night and they screwed around a couple more times, quietly but always explosive, until he finally forced himself to return to the sofa just before six.

He crossed his arms under his head and stayed away for a few minutes, going over the past few weeks in his mind. Lately, he had been walking around with a skip is his step that hadn't been there in a very long time. Everyone could tell the difference in his demeanor; his co-workers, Jer and Kurt, his mom could even tell over the phone. The past month with Rachel had been great. More than great, even, it had been _idyllic_. At least, that's how Rachel had put it. He had to look up the definition, of course, but he couldn't have put it any better than that.

If he wasn't sure that this was the life for him, then this weekend had confirmed it. Sure, he didn't want to take things too fast, but he could picture more weekends like this, a whole life with Rachel, Michael, and Andrew at his side. He always knew he loved Rachel, but he was surprised by quickly her sons were becoming an essential part of his life as well. Even when they were being farts.

Michael could still get a little moody sometimes, but it was quick to pass, and he was confiding in Finn more and more. And Andrew liked him immensely. They weren't his kids, he was reminded of that every time there was a mention of David, but that didn't lessen his affection for them and he knew, just as he had known in high school with Quinn's baby, that he would do _anything_ for those boys.

He finally allowed himself to drift off to sleep, only to be awoken a little while later by the boys running out of their room squealing and ready for breakfast.

* * *

Later that week, he stood backstage, listening through his headset as Sam interviewed this big-time movie director. They were getting more and more influential guests on the show, meaning word was getting out. The latest reviews he had seen on the show hailed her as the new Ellen but with "the depth and keen intuition of Oprah." Not that he'd ever really watched Ellen or Oprah, but he knew that those were huge compliments and by his estimation, it was only a matter of time before they were syndicated.

Everything was going smoothly, but he stayed by the monitors just in case one of the cameramen decided to get lazy. He allowed his mind to wander, just for a moment, to Rachel and what she had planned for them that evening. It was Friday and she'd finally allowed Maura to take the boys for the weekend the night before. She'd come over to his place shortly after, slightly down, but he cheered her up with some good food and a massage (okay, maybe the massage was totally selfish on his part, but it was a win-win situation for them both). They'd both gotten up early that morning, him to go to work and her to head to the school she taught at in order to arrange her classroom.

He knew it wasn't her ideal job; it was just a music class for a small private school, but he just couldn't bear to ask if she had considered taking Sam up on her offer to hook Rachel up with some Broadway people. He figured it was a big step; she barely got to see Michael and Andrew as it was and being in a show would require her to be out six nights a week. But if anybody could do it, Rachel could.

He sighed, focusing back on the monitors, and was about to switch frequencies in order to tell one of the camera guys to watch his angle when he felt a firm tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Brent, the executive producers, smiling up at him.

Finn switched off his headset and smiled uncertainly. "Hey, Brent, what's up?" he asked, his tone hushed.

"Do you have a minute, Hudson?"

Finn looked around nervously. "Um... we're kind of filming right now."

"That's fine; this place runs like a well-oiled machine." He placed a hand on Finn's shoulder and led him out of the studio. "Let's have a little talk, hm?"

He nodded and followed Brent to his office. He tried to hide his anxiety as they walked, but couldn't help the streak of fear that shot through him. He had heard somewhere that people usually got fired on Fridays so they wouldn't flip out or something like that. Yeah, okay maybe he missed that one day a few weeks ago and he left a little early last week so that he and Rachel could get out of town, but other than that he worked his butt off in this place. Surely he couldn't get sacked because of that, could he?

"Go on and have a seat," Brent said jovially. Finn sat, feeling like he was back in Principal Figgins' office. "So, how have things been going Finn? I've heard around the jail block that you've gotten yourself a girlfriend."

Small talk, great. Why couldn't people just get to the point? If he was going to get fired, was there any real reason for Brent to drag it out? "Um… yeah. For a few weeks now."

"Good to hear! It's easy to make the job your life in this business."

Finn nodded his head and noticed he was nervously twiddling his thumbs. He flushed at the realization and placed his hands on his knees. He couldn't stop his bouncing leg though.

"You're probably wondering why I've called you in here," Brent said after inspecting him for a moment. "I'll tell you right now, you don't have anything to worry about. You've by far met our expectations of you; above and beyond the call of duty and all that."

"Th-thank you, sir."

"With that being said, I've got some news for you." Brent smiled like he could hardly contain himself. "The network's approved us for national syndication."

Finn felt the tension drain out of his body and allowed himself a satisfied grin. "That's great, Brent! When do we start airing?"

Brent heaved a deep breath and shook his head. "They're actually aiming for the end of next month. Meaning we've got to start marketing, marketing, _marketing_. We plan to tell the rest of the crew later on this afternoon, but that's beside the point. We need to talk about _you_."

He shrugged his shoulders and gave the older man a confused look. "Me? I'm not going anywhere."

"That's what I was hoping to hear. I'm going to tell you now though; the network execs were impressed with you, Hudson. _Very _impressed. The word is they want you for a new project and since you're not under contract with us… well, that puts us in a spot."

"What do you mean?" He couldn't quite tell where this was going, but a he suddenly felt a surge of pride in himself. Someone had _noticed _him. It was like when Mr. Schuester told him he was doing a good job, or like when Rachel would look up at him like he was the whole world. He was successful and, furthermore, he had done it on his own.

"The fact of the matter is we can't afford to lose you. You're a vital member to this team, Hudson, and we can go national without you. We'd like to lock you in for at least two years to help get _Sam in the City_ off the ground. Then it's your call from there. Here's what we have to offer." He scooted a small sheet of paper across his desk and Finn took it. He cast a glance at it and nearly balked at the number written down. It wasn't millions of dollars, but it definitely had a couple more zeroes in the total that weren't usually there. "You'll take over as Senior Producer. It will require more responsibility, of course, but Sam and I have every confidence that you can do it."

Finn nodded mutely, still trying to find his voice as Brent continued, "You'll sit in on all executive meetings and will be involved in the entire creative process. So… what do you think?"

"Is this – what – I mean, are you serious?"

Brent sat back in his chair and smiled. "As a heart attack. That number isn't locked in, either. There will be a nice bonus once you've officially signed, as well as a salary review in six months."

His mind was reeling. A promotion, an insane raise, and employers fighting for him? He was living the freakin' dream! And all before the age of thirty. This was _awesome_.

"Do you need some time to think about it?"

"No!" he answered, perhaps a little too quickly. He knew he probably should have waited to talk the guys from the network, but the truth was, he was where he was at in his life because of _Sam in the City_. He owed them a lot and already the offer surpassed any of his expectations. Besides, it was only for two years, he had the rest of his life to rub elbows with big wigs. "I'm happy here and I'd like to stay."

Brent smiled widely and stood, reaching across his desk to shake Finn's hand. "I'm glad to hear it, Hudson! I'll get our people working on your new contract."

He called his mom as soon as got back to his office and he was pretty sure she jumped up and down for a good five minutes after he told her. He could only hope that Burt wasn't around so that he wouldn't think she was crazy. "Oh, baby," Carole gushed, her voice thick. "I am so, _so_ proud of you."

He couldn't stop the big smile on his face and he even got a little bit choked up when she told him that. Of course, that was before she started in on him. "See, sweetie. You've got the job, now you've just got to find yourself a nice girl and give me some grandbabies!"

Finn laughed uncomfortably. He hadn't told her about Rachel yet, and Kurt had kept his mouth shut. Although, he'd been keeping kind of quiet about it around his step-brother as well. Not that he was ashamed of their relationship or anything; it just wasn't something he was ready to advertise just yet. That and he didn't know exactly how Carole would react to his dating Rachel; he had been pretty torn up about it the summer that she got married. She never had a harsh word to say about Rachel, but she would often look over at their prom picture, sigh, and shake her head in disappointment. So, for the time being, he decided it would be wise to keep it to himself and fill her in later.

He thought about calling Rachel once he got off of the phone with his mother, but he changed his mind, deciding to surprise her with the news that night. Maybe they could do a nice celebratory dinner or something. He grinned at the prospect. He knew she would be just as excited as Carole had been for him.

The rest of the afternoon flew by in blur from there. It was complete chaos once Sam and Brent made the announcement with lots of champagne and cheering and people congratulating him on his promotion. He had a couple of glasses and mingled with his co-workers for an hour or so before ducking out early.

It was like the whole of New York was smiling down on him as he strutted down the sidewalk. People moved out of his way and cast him sidelong glances as he walked. He idly wondered why it was that he and everyone he came across didn't just stop and break out into dance right there in the street like they did in movies.

For once, Finn Hudson's life was going exactly as it should have been. He had great job, an amazing girlfriend, people were looking at him with respect – he could respect _himself_. It was like high school but better since he didn't have to throw anyone in the dumpsters or get slushied when people didn't agree with what he wanted to do.

He stopped at a flower shop on his way home and bought an exotic, overpriced bouquet and walked whistled as he walked. He high-fived the doorman on his way to the elevator, stopped and held the door for a very slow-moving elderly woman and helped her off at her floor, and nearly skipped down the hall to his door.

He ruffled Tank's head upon entering and grinned even more widely when he saw Rachel already waiting for him on the couch, curled up into a little ball.

Yup, today was definitely the best day ever.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So sorry about the lack of updates lately everyone; we've had family in town, so my room (i.e. my quiet place) hasn't really been at my disposal. This chapter is a lot shorter than what I usually write, but that's because this and the next one were actually supposed to be combined. I just wanted to get this half out so that you all will have something to read! So, the duh-RAMA I promised won't be coming up until the next chapter. I will try, try, __**try**__ to get it out in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	12. And the Bad News

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Eleven: And the Bad News**

Today was the worst day ever.

No, scratch that – the day her husband died had been the worst day ever. But today had been the most humiliating day ever. Damn it, scratch that again – the most humiliating day ever had been the day that her accountant told her that she was completely broke and up to her ears in debt.

Damn David for ruining _everything_. She couldn't even hit rock bottom anymore because he had effectively ruined that for her as well. If she said everything was terrible now, it would be incredibly petty in comparison. She could say, however, that today fell in as a close second on both accounts.

Rewind to last weekend. She had worked her butt of the entire week before, pulling all double shifts so that she could have Friday evening and the weekend off so that they could take the boys out of town. And things had gone so well!

Michael and Andrew had an absolute ball with Finn, fishing and playing in the water. He shined when he was with them. Rachel didn't dare to focus on the future, just the here and now, but she couldn't help thinking that Finn was going to make an excellent father one day. She would have loved to see him with a little girl, one with her dark eyes and hair and his dimpled smile…

And he had been so conscientious about keeping it "PG" around the boys, just like he had promised. She hadn't expected him to sleep on the couch that first night, but when he did, that only endeared him to her even more. How was it that one man could be so sweet and perfect?

He was still so much that boy from high school, perhaps just a little more confident and self-assured, and it truly suited him. And despite all the fun they had that weekend, her favorite part, certainly her most cherished memory, was the quiet ride home, the boys sleeping in the backseat, the dog stretched out across their laps, and just holding Finn's hand over the console of the rental car as he drove.

It all went downhill from there. She had come home to several angry messages from Maura, demanding to know why they weren't able to have the boys that weekend. She finally called her back on Wednesday and begrudgingly agreed to let her and Benjamin see the boys the following weekend. As much as she hated sending the boys with her, it couldn't have come at a better time. The principal she worked for called to see if she could come in on Friday for a meeting, so that took care of childcare that day, and she was looking forward to a little alone time with Finn without him jumping at every sound from the other room.

Her in-laws arrived Thursday afternoon to pick up the boys. Rachel walked them down instead of having Maura come up, and while Benjamin was friendly enough, Maura remained in the Town Car and neither of them attempted to exchange a civil word to each other. She watched forlornly as the vehicle pulled away from the curb before heading back upstairs and grabbing the bag she had packed for herself.

She was on Finn's couch within thirty minutes, his comforting arms around her as they waited for dinner to arrive. It was her favorite place to be and the longer he held her, the more she began to feel her spirits rise. Then, a little later, he awkwardly began rubbing her shoulders in an attempt at a massage, which she gathered was as much for her comfort as it was his attempt to get in her pants. It worked, of course, and in the end she did feel much better.

They got up and dressed together, an almost perfect picture of domesticity, and he walked her to the bus stop before heading to the studio. She arrived at the school early and made her way to her small music classroom. Instead of finding it how she left it at the beginning of summer though, she was surprised to see it piled high with boxes. Had they moved her classroom without telling her and turned this room into storage?

Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, she marched to the principal's office. "Oh, hello, Rachel," his secretary responded. "How can I help you?"

She crossed her arms in front of her chest haughtily. "Why are there boxes in my classroom?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there are boxes in my classroom and I want to know what they're doing there."

The secretary's face went blank. "You mean Principal Montgomery hasn't told you? I thought you had a meeting with him."

"Of course, but I came in early so that I could start arranging my classroom. Thus we have the root of our problem."

"Just one moment, Rachel," she said, scrambling up. "I'll see if he can't meet with you right now."

She watched the stout little woman hobble into the other room. This was not a good sign, but she quickly brushed the thought away. There was no room for paranoia and negativity in her life; she was an excellent employee, she never missed a day of work, and she enriched the minds of young children through the power of music. This was just all a misunderstanding which they would quickly rectify and then she could get on with her day.

"Principal Montgomery will see you now." The secretary stood to the side as Rachel entered Principal Montgomery's office and shut the door firmly behind her.

"Good morning, Rachel," he said cordially, although he did look a little worried. "Early as usual, I see. Please have a seat."

She complied without a word. "So, how was your summer?" he asked, his face flushing. "How are the boys?"

"They're doing well. We just got back from a fishing trip of sorts," she said, wondering why her boss was squirming in his seat. "Is everything alright, Joshua? You seem a little nervous."

"Well, Rachel, I hate to tell you this, but the reason I've called you here today is not a good one."

"Ugh, are you moving my classroom downstairs? I told you, it's damp down there, and it's not good for our instruments or our vocal cords."

"I'm afraid that's not it, Rachel," he muttered. "The board told me just to call you, but considering your… _circumstances_, I thought it would be better to tell you this in person."

She nodded, the sense of foreboding coming back.

"As you know, we're just a small private school and we run on limited funds. They've been crunching the numbers all summer and we've had to make some cuts."

Rachel took in a deep breath. "What kind of cuts?" she asked quietly.

"Well, the board's decided to do away with our fine arts programs." She blinked at him furiously, trying to process what he was saying. "I hate to do it, Rachel, I really do. And it's not just our music program, it's Art as well. We were able to find another placement for Leigh since she's double certified but unfortunately you –"

"I'm screwed, that's what you're saying."

"You're an amazing talent Rachel," Joshua insisted. "And you're a good teacher, but we both know you could be doing so much more than teaching music in an elementary school."

"That's a pitiful excuse and you know it," she cried. "How do you expect these children to think for themselves if you just teach them the black and white? You're doing them a true disservice by cutting these programs!"

"And I completely agree with you. But it's out of my hands!" He opened his desk drawer and pulled out an envelope. "I'll recommend you highly to any other school you apply at. Here, I've already written you a letter of recommendation."

"Honestly, the board couldn't have come to this conclusion earlier? You know there's no chance of me finding a placement now that we're so close to the new school year beginning!"

"There are lots of schools in New York. Perhaps your sons' school is hiring."

She nearly scoffed at the suggestion. The teachers at Michael and Andrew's school all held PhDs. She had been hoping to catch a break, now it looked as if she was going to be stuck working at the restaurant full-time for another few months.

"Please let me know if you need anything," Joshua continued. "I won't fight it if you decide to file for unemp–"

"Thank you," Rachel said, standing up. "I think we're done here."

"I am truly very sorry, Rachel," he said, standing up with her.

"Me too," she muttered, showing herself out. She walked out of the school, not even bothering to say goodbye to any of her colleagues and made her way straight to the bus. She'd go to the restaurant and see if she could pick up a few hours since she obviously didn't have anything else to do that day.

She arrived right as the lunch rush began and made her way back to the manager's office. "Hey Martin, can we talk?" she asked, knocking lightly on his open door.

"Make it quick," he snapped, barely even taking a moment to look up from his computer monitor.

"Well, I know we discussed my being cut back to part-time in a few weeks, but my other job fell through, so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind keeping me on –"

"You want more hours?" he said, finally turning away from his game of Solitaire.

"No, I want to keep my regular hours."

"No can do. I've already hired another part-timer."

"What?" she gasped. Could this day get any worse?

"Well, you can't just keep changing your mind, Rachel. First you want to be full-time, then you want to be part-time, and now you want to be full-time again? I have a restaurant to run. I don't have time to play 'what does Rachel want to do today' everyday."

"And you have absolutely no room to give me more hours? I mean, look at this place, it's a madhouse as it is with all the girls you have out there."

"Sorry, we've got a budget."

"How on earth do you expect me to pay my bills?"

Martin shrugged. "Not my problem. And don't you have a rich new boyfriend anyway? I've seen him in here with your runts."

"He's not my 'rich new boyfriend,'" she snapped.

"Watch your tone," Martin warned her, "or I'll be happy to cut _all_ of your hours. I have enough to put up with without worrying about your little diva fits. Go sing on Broadway or something, that's what you came here for in the first place."

"Oh you know what, Martin?" she hissed, jumping up. That was it, it was finally too much. She was tired of people telling her what she could or couldn't do, tired of living her life at the whim of others. It was time for her to take a little control, consequences be damned! "You can take Broadway and shove it. I quit this crap job."

She marched to the door and looked at the man defiantly. "Good luck finding another waitress who is going to put up with you."

"Don't worry about me, baby," he leered. "There are plenty of girls looking for a job out there. The only person you just screwed is yourself."

"Oh, you sniveling, sexist pig!" she nearly screeched, ignoring the eyes of the cooks in the kitchen. "I hope the city shuts this place down!"

"Yeah, yeah. Get out of my office." At that he slammed the door in her face. She turned to everyone watching her, suddenly feeling self-conscious. There was a time in her life when she would have loved the feel of people watching her, but this was completely different. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, smoothed out her skirt, and walked out of the restaurant with righteous indignation.

She allowed the façade to crumble when she was a two blocks away and hurried _back_ to the bus stop before she could start crying. What had she just done? As liberating as her little tirade had been, she probably should have thought that through. She considered running back to the restaurant and apologizing to Martin for freaking out, but she had to maintain some sort of self respect.

No money, no job, and no hope. She felt the panic building up within her and she tried to clear her mind as she rode back to Finn's apartment. She considered calling him and telling him everything that had just happened, but he was probably busy. And there was no point in worrying him anyway; there was nothing he could do for her from work.

She blindly made her way up to his floor and let herself in using the key he had given her. She set resolutely on the sofa and hugged Tank tightly when he came to sit next to her. She gave into her absolute misery, crying inconsolably into the dog's fur. Once she had calmed herself down, she picked up her phone and stared at it blankly. She felt the need to talk to someone, _anyone_, for that matter.

Finally she hit the first number on her speed dial and prayed that someone would pick up.

"Hello?" a cheerful voice answered after a couple of rings.

"Daddy?"

"Well, this is a surprise!" he exclaimed, and Rachel could imagine him removing his glasses and setting them to the side as he spoke. "How are you, sweetie? How are the boys? Did you have the afternoon off?"

"We're fine. The boys are fine," she said, her voice trembling on the last word.

"Sweetie? Are you okay?"

"Oh, Daddy!" she sobbed. "I've made a mess of everything!"

"Shh, sweetie," he consoled. "We'll talk it out. Let's see if it's a mess we can fix."

"O-okay," she sniffled. And then she told him about her day.

* * *

By the time she got off the phone, she was feeling calmer. She wasn't feeling like herself, not by a long shot, but the panicky feeling had gone away and was now replaced by an aching hollowness. Her dad had come in during the middle of the conversation and together the three of them discussed her options.

Ever since David had died, they had offered her their unwavering support with no strings attached, unlike Maura. They wanted her and the boys to go back to Lima, of course, but until now, she hadn't viewed that as an option. Now, there was nothing left for her in New York. She didn't foresee herself having a huge Broadway career in the near future, so she was just dragging out her disappointment by remaining in the city.

Her fathers owned a few (very nice) rental homes and they offered to let her rent one. They would still be helping her out, but she would be on her own once she found a steady job. And fortunately they had heard through the grapevine that the middle school was hiring a new choir teacher. Of course, middle school was considered the cesspool of the teaching world, but at this point, she would take what she could get. With her degree and talent, she doubted they would find anyone in Lima, Ohio more qualified than her to coach prepubescent boys on how to maintain their pitch through the most strenuous years on their singing voices.

That just left two obstacles: her mother-in-law and Finn. It broke her heart to have to leave it like this when they had just found each other again, but she had to do what was best for her sons, right? The cost of living was so much less in Ohio and it would be good to get the boys out of the city for a little while. Let them have a yard to run around in, let them enjoy a simpler life. Finn would certainly understand that. And just because she was moving, it didn't mean they couldn't maintain a relationship.

She sighed and looked at Tank, who was now sleeping soundly next to her on the couch. She knew it was implausible. Wasn't their first attempt at a long-distance relationship proof enough? There couldn't be a middle ground – there was no reason for him to move to Lima and there was no possible way for her to stay in New York, unless she wanted to live on the streets or give into Maura. But maybe they could work something out. They just _had _to. She loved him and even after such little time, she had come to rely on him. She could no longer imagine her life without Finn Hudson in it.

She massaged her temple, suddenly feeling very exhausted. She curled up in a ball at the end of the couch and watched the clock blankly as one hour turned into another and then another. Her mind was racing with thoughts and plans, worries about telling the boys, worries about telling Maura, worries about leaving her heart in New York.

She was vaguely aware when Tank's head popped up and he leapt off of the couch to wait by the door. She registered the sound of footsteps in the hallway, the click of the lock, Finn's voice as he quietly greeted the dog. She sat up warily and watched as he placed his keys on the table by the door.

"Hey, Rach!" he exclaimed softly, an enthusiastic smile on his face. "I hope you have something nice to wear because we're going _out_." At that, he brandished a beautiful bouquet of Oriental lilies from behind his back.

"They're beautiful," she said, trying to force some enthusiasm into her voice. "What is the occasion?"

He planted a light kiss on her forehead and hurried to the bedroom. "We're celebrating!" he called, his voice muffled as he dug around in his closet.

"I don't know if I feel much like celebrating," she murmured.

"Is everything alright?" he asked. A spasm of guilt shot through her when he emerged from his bedroom already clad in a pair of jeans and a new shirt, still unbuttoned. His brow furrowed when he saw the expression her face and he plopped down on the sofa next to her. "Did everything go okay at work?"

"There's something we need to talk about," she said, placing the flowers gently on the coffee table.

He took her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. "What's up?"

"I – I…" she stopped shook her head in frustration. This was humiliating. "They cut the music program at the school I worked at," she finally choked out. "I lost my job."

His eyes grew big and he pulled her into his arms. "Oh, Rach, I'm so sorry." She nodded and pulled away from him, unable to meet his gaze. "It'll be okay. We'll get through this. All you need to do is keep your job at the restaurant until you can find something else –"

"I quit my job at the restaurant," she said quietly. "The manager had already hired someone to cover my work part-time."

"Well… we'll think of something." He sat back and screwed up his face in concentration, not letting go of her hand. Rachel's heart immediately broke, knowing that he was wracking his brain to think of a suitable solution. "We'll definitely think of… _something_," he repeated.

"Finn, I already know what I'm going to do."

He perked up. "Oh good, because my mind is going a million miles a minute here. I mean, I know you want to do it on your own, but maybe I can find a job for you at the studio. With your experience, I'm sure we could find a good job for you there, or maybe Sam could –"

"I'm moving back to Lima, Finn," she interrupted, not bearing to hear another person say the word "Broadway" to her.

He dropped her hand and his face went completely blank. "…what?"

"I've talked to my dads and we all think that it's best if I move back to Lima. They have several rental properties –"

"_Lima_?" he choked incredulously. "As in _Ohio_?"

"Well, yes. That's the only other Lima I can think of off the top of my head. Unless, of course, you're referring to the one in Peru, and even then it's _Lee_-ma."

"But… what about me?" he asked, blinking in confusion.

Even though she had been giving that very topic much thought that afternoon, the question perturbed her. It wasn't just about him. "What do you mean what about _you_?" she asked, standing up.

"I mean, what about us? I thought we had something good. I thought we were, you know, working towards something."

"Finn, I'm _working_ to keep my children fed and clothed. I think this is the best thing for us."

"Well, maybe you're being a little too hasty with your decision. Maybe you need to sit down and think about it some more. Rachel, I think if we put our heads together we can think of a better answer."

She took a deep breath and counted down from ten. She understood that he was just trying to help, but why couldn't he just respect her decision? "And what do you suggest Finn? My rent's due in a few days. I can't pay the rent with no money." She motioned around his apartment. "Oh, I know! Maybe we can move in here! There's no room for the boys, but maybe they can sleep on your futon. It'll be great, like one big frat party with you and your buds."

"Hey!" he interrupted, his face going red. "Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot! I'm just trying to help you out here."

"I know, and I apologize for that. But you have to understand that this isn't a game. We're not playing house. This is real, this is my life. I have two children to provide for, and if I have to move out of state to make sure that they have the highest quality of life possible, then that's what I'm going to do."

He jumped to his feet and paced anxiously in front of the couch, causing Tank to squirm in excitement. "I get that, Rachel, I really do. What I don't understand is why every time you decide to make these big life decisions, _I'm_ the one who ends up getting thrown under the bus!"

"Oh, Finn!" she moaned. "Please don't make this about you."

"Of course not! It's always about _you_, Rachel. Lord knows I've been bending over backwards for you and your boys lately."

"I've _never_ asked you to do anything you didn't want to do. I haven't asked you for _anything_."

"And you'll never have to. I'm just begging you to think of me this _one_ time."

The complete hope in his gaze tore her to shreds and she could feel the tears she had kept in check flow over. "I'm sorry. I can't do that."

He nodded his head slowly as he absorbed what she just said. "I didn't think so."

"Finn, I am so, so sorry."

"Forget about it," he muttered, buttoning his shirt up the rest of the way. "I mean, why should I expect you to change the habit of a lifetime? You left me behind nine years ago; it shouldn't surprise me that you're doing it again now."

"That was a long time ago. I was just a girl. I thought I was doing what was right for me."

"And what was that? In case you didn't realize, you're not exactly a Broadway star right now."

Rachel sucked in a sharp breath as his barb struck home. "I can't believe you're going to throw that into my face _now_."

"Well, how the hell did you think I felt about it?" he cried out, his voice raising a decibel. "When you left, I thought, 'Okay, maybe it's for the best.' I always knew what you wanted out of life. I knew that sooner or later, I'd be holding you back. But _this_? It's all bullshit. You're nothing like the Rachel I used to know."

"How _dare_ you?" she hissed. She clenched her fists at her sides and fought the urge to stamp her foot in rage. "What right do you have to judge my life? You don't know anything about my life."

"Yeah? I know you shacked up with the first jackass who came your way, let him talk you out of everything you ever dreamed of, and then he left you with nothing, Rachel. _Nothing_. I never would have done that to you."

"Oh please. You make it sound like David died on purpose. He loved me and he loved our sons. Yes, he may have made some unsound financial decisions, but don't let that diminish the fact that I was happy, Finn. Don't fool yourself into believing that I was miserably waiting around for you to come to my rescue!"

"Were you happy, Rach? Really? Sitting around at home all day with the nanny? He didn't even make the time to take your kids to a baseball game or fishing or to the movies. Andrew said they've never even been bowling." He set his jaw firmly. "You tell me right now that you were happy. That that was the life you wanted. Look me in the eye and tell me that and I'll believe you."

"You're jealous. That's what this is about," she accused, sidestepping the question. "You want me to make comparisons between you and David, but I won't do it, Finn."

"Please!" he laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I'm not asking you make comparisons. It's not a contest. But don't get me wrong. Yes, he was your husband. Yes, he loved you and Michael and Andrew. But does that mean I have to like the dead bastard? No."

Rachel's eyes widened in dismay. How could he be so callous? This time, she didn't even try to refrain herself, and stamped her foot furiously on the floor, causing Tank to run from the room and seek refuge under Finn's bed. "Take that back! Take it back right this instant, Finn Hudson, or _else_."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and shrugged petulantly. "No."

She grabbed her purse and stormed past him. "I don't ever want to hear from you again. Don't call me, don't e-mail me, don't – just _don't_! Just forget I ever existed, do you understand me?" She took a little pleasure as a flicker of pain flashed across his face. "I'm just another Lima loser, after all."

"You said it, not me."

She met his gaze and they stared each other down for a moment, the pain and tension between them almost palpable. She struggled to say something, but the lump in her throat prevented her from speaking, so she turned and left, feeling so numb and defeated that she didn't even bother to slam the door behind her.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__::ducks and hides:: Please, don't hurt me. But in all honesty, I did give y'all fair warning. And don't judge Finn too harshly; he's just hurt and sometimes he says things he doesn't mean when he's upset. :-(_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	13. Stone Hearts & Hand Grenades

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Twelve: Stone Hearts & Hand Grenades**

Unfold box, fill box, tape close. Unfold another box, fill box, tape close. And so on, and so on.

Rachel had been at it for hours, mentally taking notes of what she was packing as she did so. She'd already stripped all the walls and shelves of their pictures and knick knacks, packing them away into one box after another. Slowly, the boxes began to pile up. First in the living room, then in her bedroom, the bathroom, and now she was in the kitchen.

Strangely enough, Rachel hadn't cried at all during the process. Maybe it was because she'd done enough crying over Finn Hudson the first time they'd been together. Or maybe it was just because she'd done enough crying over the past year. Either way, she hadn't shed a single tear.

Instead she was numb, unfeeling. She worked on packing up her apartment mechanically, not really seeing what she was doing, but functioning like a semi-normal person. Sometimes the urge to curl up in her bed was overwhelming, but she quickly tramped it down and moved on to packing the next thing.

She had stayed up all night, staring blankly at the ceiling. She hadn't been alone in weeks and she started to wonder if she actually missed Finn or just having someone around. He did fill a particular void, but in the end, he'd only made the hurt so much greater. What made it so much worse was what he said about David. He hadn't said anything particularly _un_truthful, and it caused her to feel uneasy.

She _had_ been in love with David, she really had. And love was about sacrificing a part of yourself so another person could be happy, right? But _what_ had David sacrificed for her? She had been the one to give up her dreams. She gave up everything that made her who she was. Just the fact in itself that she even let that happen disturbed her. What would have 16-year-old Rachel Berry done? She never let anything stand in her way, not friends, not relationships, _nothing_. She even gave up Finn for her dreams, and he had been her one true love.

As unsettling as these thoughts were, they were something she had been avoiding for a long, long time. There was nothing she could do about the past, she would just have to get up, dust herself off, and move on. And that started with this move.

True, returning to Lima may have had a little bit of a stigma to it, but it's not like it was a bad place to grow up. She turned out fine for the most part. There was nothing wrong with living in a small town.

Her fathers were already on their way over with a U-Haul trailer and would be there later that evening. They would load up everything she had in the morning, except for the furniture, which she had rented with apartment, and then they would be on their way back to Lima. She barely had any time to pack, but she needed to be there as soon as possible so she could interview for position of choir director.

She'd already called Maura and told her to bring the boys back right away. This was going to be a hard meeting, but it was something that she had to do. She knew her mother-in-law was going to pull out the big guns, but she had a few tricks up her sleeve yet. She was done letting Maura Kutner control her life.

She opened the refrigerator and started sorting the food by what she could and couldn't take to Lima. Unfortunately very little of it would keep; she hated to throw away good food, but it wouldn't even last long enough for her to donate it, so into the trash it went. She was just tying up the trash bag when she heard Maura's telltale sharp knock at the door.

She stood quickly, fighting off a sudden wave of dizziness, and walked to the door. She took a moment to take a deep breath and brace herself for the battle royal she knew was coming before pulling the door open.

"Hey guys," she said, ushering Michael and Andrew in.

"What's going on?" Michael asked, observing the boxes.

Maura raised an eyebrow upon entering and turned to Rachel. "Are you finally moving out of this sty?"

Andrew didn't say anything, just stood on tiptoe to peer into one of the open boxes.

"Yup," she announced. "We're moving!"

"To where?" Michael questioned.

"Well, I'm going to talk to you about that in a minute. Right now I need you and Andrew to go to your room and start gathering up your toys and clothes while me and Bubbe have a talk."

When neither of them moved, she gave them a stern look and pointed to their room. "Go. Now."

Michael wrinkled his nose and cast a furtive glance at Maura, who merely shrugged. "Go on," she ordered. "Listen to your mother."

She waited until their bedroom door was closed before rounding on Rachel.

"Really, Rachel, what's the meaning of this? You're being a little melodramatic don't you think?" Maura said drolly. "If you've found a new apartment, just say so. As long as it's not with your… _gentleman_ friend… then we won't have a problem."

"Would you like to have a seat?" Rachel asked, ignoring Maura's comment.

"I'll stand, thank you. Just tell me what this is about."

"Well, you're right. We're moving. I've decided that I am taking a job back in Lima. We're leaving tomorrow."

Maura stared at Rachel for a moment in shock. "Y-you can't do that," she finally said.

"I can and I am."

Maura squinted dangerously at her. "I've already told you Rachel, I'm not afraid to make this a legal issue. They are my grandch-"

"And that won't mean anything in a court of law and you know it," Rachel snapped. "I'm their mother, I do not mistreat them and I make sure that all their needs are met. _Even_ at the expense of mine. So please, bring on your lawyers, Maura. I can assure you, I am equipped to put up a fight."

"So you're just going to take them away from everything they've ever known? They've only ever lived in this city; this is where their school is, where their friends are. It's where we are. Surely there is some way for us to work this out."

"You know what, I am _sick_ of everyone telling me what I can and can't do!" Rachel practically yelled. Maura actually had the decency to look affronted and took a few steps back so that she could plop down on the sofa. She looked up at Rachel wide-eyed as she continued to rant. "You're not the only one who knows people. My fathers have some _very_ influential lawyer friends who will gladly make sure that there will be no way for you to ever see _my_ children again. So you will stop threatening me this instant or I will make good on that promise, do you understand me?"

Maura continued to stare up at her, completely speechless, before her face suddenly crumpled and she began to sob brokenly into her hands. This caught Rachel completely off guard and she threw a worried glance towards the boys' room. Thankfully they didn't seem to be listening, so Rachel walked over to the couch and sat down next to the older woman, awkwardly patting her leg in consolation.

"You don't understand," Maura sobbed. "Th-th-they're the only thing left that I have of _my_ son. Can't you see that?"

Rachel stared down at her in surprise as Maura continued. "My only child is dead. My David isn't coming back. And I just thought that maybe, _maybe_, if I could have a second chance with them, things could turn out right. You don't think I don't know why you're here, why you had to live in this hovel? If I had only known, if I hadn't stressed to him that it wasn't about _what_ you had, but _who_ you had, things would be so different."

Drawing in a shaky breath, Rachel leaned over and hugged Maura. "I am so sorry, Maura," she murmured, her own tears streaming down her face. "I can't even imagine how hard it must be for you… if anything were to happen to Michael or Andrew –" she cut herself off and shook the thought out of her head. That wasn't something that she could ever wish upon anyone.

She pulled away from Maura, but kept her hands on her shoulders. "But you have to understand, they're still my children. You have to let go and let me raise them how I see fit."

Maura sighed. "Oh, Rachel. I know that. I've always known that. And you really do a splendid job. They adore you. You're all either one of them can talk about… and now Finn, of course."

Rachel tried not to let that comment affect her, but she suddenly knew that the bond they had made with Finn would make things so much harder for them as well. If only she had stayed home that day instead of going to the park – she would have done anything to keep her sons from the pain that she knew was inevitably coming.

"Are you sure there is absolutely no way you can stay in New York?"

"I'm sorry; I just think it would be better for the boys and me in a smaller town. It will take some getting used to, but we've gotten through worse. But, Maura, I'm not taking them away from you. I need you to know that. You will always be their grandmother and I will never take that away from you."

Maura nodded slowly, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief that she pulled out of her purse. "Is there anything at all that you need Benjamin and me to do?"

"Actually, yes," Rachel said, a thought dawning on her. "You can let me sell the house. It's just sitting there and –"

Maura held up her hand and shook her head. "That house needs a lot of work, Rachel. It's been empty for nearly fifteen years now." Rachel's shoulders slumped in defeat. She knew she probably wouldn't get much for it, but it would be all profit on her part. She'd never seen it, but if it really was dilapidated, there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't even want to imagine the taxes she would have to pay on it for the next year.

"But," Maura continued, "we can have an inspector go out and see what needs to be done. Then Benjamin and I can front the bill to have it renovated. Not over the top, of course, but just to make it marketable. We really should have kept up with the upkeep, but I just assumed that David… unfortunately, I didn't raise the most responsible son, I'm afraid. It may take a few months, but is that alright?"

"Are you serious?" Rachel exclaimed. Her mother-in-law smiled and nodded.

"Oh, thank you, Maura!" she cried, throwing her arms around her. "Thank you, thank you, _thank you_."

Maura chuckled and took Rachel's hand in hers, patting the back of it lightly. Never before had she been so matronly, and Rachel almost burst into tears again. She had always hoped that she and Maura could have this kind of relationship, but Maura had always kept her at arm's length. Why couldn't they have had this breakthrough years ago?

"You know," Maura said quietly, "you remind me a great deal of myself at your age."

"I do?"

"Oh yes. Strong-willed, emotional… talented." She smiled at some distant memory. "Do you know how Benjamin and I met?"

"No," Rachel said slowly, not sure that she knew where this was going.

"Well, I was living in London in the 80s; running around with the West End crowd. Can you believe it?" Rachel shook her head. "Oh yes. As soon as I graduated high school, I packed up my things and flew off to England. I left everything in Indiana behind; my friends, my family, my beau...

"Anyway, my friend Andrew began writing a little musical called _The Phantom in the Opera_ while I was there. They all say that he wrote the part of Christine for his wife, but the truth is," she pointed at herself and nodded, "he wanted me to originate the role."

Rachel's jaw dropped. Her mother-in-law knew _the_ Andrew Lloyd Webber and, on top of that, she was supposed to be Christine Daaé? There was no way she could believe that! "Wh-what happened?"

Maura rolled her eyes. "I met a boy! Benjamin was there on a summer tour before starting law school. The rest is, as they say, history!"

"I don't believe you!" Rachel laughed.

"Oh, it's true. Remind me to show you some of my photo albums next time you come over. I have some particularly incriminating photos of Michael Crawford on absinthe. Lord, but we did have a good time in those days."

They laughed together until their sides hurt, Maura still hanging onto Rachel's hand. Once their mirth had subsided, Maura shook her head thoughtfully. "You were always much more talented than I was though. It's a shame that you never went back."

Rachel grew a little flustered and pushed her hair out of her face. "Well, you know, it was difficult with the boys and David –"

"I know." They grew quiet for a moment, each woman going over her own thoughts. "Perhaps," Maura finally said, "you and the boys could come visit for the holidays. They always fall after Hanukkah, of course, but it would still be nice."

"That would be lovely," Rachel murmured and they shared a small smile.

* * *

Rachel sighed and took a long last look at the living room in front of her. Save for a few particles of dust floating in the late morning light spilling through the windows, the room was completely empty. Michael and Andrew stood on either side of her, each clasping a hand tightly, sniffling quietly.

"That's the last of it," her dad said, walking out of her bedroom.

"You ready to go, sweetie?" her daddy asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, we'll be down in a minute." She listened as the sound of her fathers' footsteps echoed down the stairwell before looking down at her sons. "Well, this is it."

"I still don't see why we couldn't say bye to Finn," Michael grumbled.

"I told you, baby, he's very busy with work and couldn't make it."

He sniffled but didn't say anything else. It had been a long night, especially after she told Michael and Andrew where they were moving. Andrew was mildly excited while Michael had thrown a little bit of a fit and had shut himself up his bedroom and stayed in there until his grandfathers arrived. Together, they packed up the rest of their things and began loading that morning.

It was another sleepless night for Rachel and she got up that morning feeling sick and dizzy. She attributed it to her nerves and eventually forced herself up and going.

"You'll both see that this is for the best one day," she insisted, squeezing their hands.

"Yeah right," Michael muttered, pulling away from her. "Come on, Andy," he ordered, taking his brother's hand and heading downstairs to where her fathers and David's parents were waiting.

She shuffled across the room and sat down on the sofa and looked around the empty apartment. She wasn't going to miss the cramped space, but it was the last place she had been semi-happy, a feeling which seemed so foreign now. She took a look at her watch and then scoffed at herself. What on earth was she waiting for? She just needed to get up and leave. No use postponing the inevitable.

She took one last look around, swallowed down the lump in her throat, and walked into the hallway. She left the door unlocked, per her landlord's instructions and walked across the hallway to Mrs. Nedry's apartment. She knocked twice and waited patiently for the elderly woman to answer the door. The boys had already said their goodbyes to her earlier that morning, but she wanted to see the woman who had been such a help to her one last time.

"Hello, dear," she said upon answering.

"Hi, Mrs. Nedry. I just wanted to let you know that we are taking off."

Mrs. Nedry frowned. "It's such a shame that you are moving so far away. I will miss you and the boys."

"We'll miss you too," Rachel said with a smile. "I can never thank you enough for all the help you've given me."

"It was my pleasure."

She gave her a quick hug and pulled away before her emotions got the best of her. "Well… goodbye, Mrs. Nedry."

"Goodbye, sweetheart. You take care of those little ones."

Rachel nodded and hurried down the stairs. She stopped and dropped her keys in the mailbox for the landlord and walked outside.

Maura and Benjamin were bidding their goodbyes to Michael and Andrew. "You be good and you listen to your mother, do you understand me?" Maura said firmly, although her eyes were a little misty.

"Yes, Bubbe," Michael and Andrew intoned in unison.

"And mind your grandfathers!" she called as they crawled into her fathers' hybrid SUV. She watched as Rachel's dad helped them settle in before turning back to her daughter-in-law. "Well, I suppose this is it," she sniffed, back to her usual cool demeanor. "We will let you know how the inspection goes and what the realtor says."

"Thank you, Maura. I really appreciate it. And you too, Benjamin."

"No problem," Benjamin said, waving her off. "It's something that needs to be done."

He gave her an awkward hug and shuffled back to the Town Car, leaving Maura and Rachel on the sidewalk.

"You will call me as soon as you reach, Lima?" Maura asked.

"Of course."

"And send me pictures of the new house."

"_Maura_," Rachel groaned. Maura may have been trying to turn over a new leaf, but some habits were hard to break, she supposed.

"Just for posterity's sake," Maura insisted. "I'd just like to see where my grandchildren will be living. There's nothing wrong with that."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Maybe once we're settled in and I get a chance to snap a few pictures."

"That's all I'm asking."

"I'll keep you updated on how they're doing in school and how we're settling in," she promised.

"Very well then," Maura paused and bit her lip. Then she gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. "Take care, darling."

"You too, Maura." They separated, each woman heading to her respective vehicle. Rachel scooted in next to Andrew and put on her seatbelt, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Why she was feeling a little panicky, she didn't know. Andrew and Michael were already engrossed in the portable DVD player that her dad's had brought them, and even though she knew it was an extravagant gift, she was thankful for the distraction it would provide on the long trip.

"All set?" her daddy asked.

She shrugged and looked out the window. "As ready as we'll ever be."

Her dad waited as the Town Car pulled away from the curb ahead of them before following suit. They were just pulling out when a man waiting to cross the street caught her attention. Finn's tall form was unmistakable, even from the distance, and she could tell he looked tired and more than a little nervous. He didn't see her watching him, his focus on the cars coming from the other direction, and she almost cried out for her father to stop the car.

She knew he was there to apologize and set things right, and her heart went out to him, but he was just too late. She had convinced herself that there was no way they could have a normal, drama-free relationship, and this move would be just as beneficial to him as it was to her. He needed to find another sweet girl like Audra and start the family he deserved with her.

She squeezed her eyes shut as they drove down the street and didn't look back again.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Unlike the other chapters, whose names come from something random within the chapter, this and the next get their names from song lyrics. This chapter is named for the Leona Lewis song, "Stone Hearts & Hand Grenades". The lyrics apply more to the story as a whole rather than this chapter, but I thought that phrase could be applied to this situation (if that makes sense)._

_Whew, I'm glad none of y'all got on my case for the last chapter. I totally agree with all the reviews saying that they felt worse for Finn than for Rachel – I just didn't know how everyone would react to his calling her hubby a "dead bastard." I am probably going to get some hell for the Maura thing, but I kind of think of her as what Rachel would have become had David not died. Just think about that for a little while before you yell at me. :-)_

_I've actually been working on this chapter simultaneously with the next (they kind of go hand-in-hand), so hopefully I can get that out for you guys tomorrow since I'll be going out of town for the long weekend. No promises though as it's going to be a little longer than this one!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	14. Just One More Moment

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Thirteen: Just One More Moment**

"Oh dear baby Jesus," Kurt said stopping short when he found his step-brother hunched over his dining table amongst several empty beer bottles and a nearly empty bottle of Crown. Jer was sitting across from him, sipping on a beer of his own, with a pitying look on his face. "Is he dead?"

Jer sighed deeply. "Not yet."

"Well, what the hell is wrong with him? Why is he here?"

"I don't know. He showed up like this. I had to give him the rest of my whiskey just to calm him down."

"Don't just sit there! Make some coffee!" he ordered, nudging Jer to the kitchen. Then he stalked over to Finn and pulled him up by the shoulders.

"Finn!" Kurt called, slapping him lightly on each cheek. "Snap out of it. What's wrong?"

"Rachel," he groaned as he slumped over.

Kurt stood up straight and placed his hands on his hips. "Of course. Anything else would be a surprise." He walked himself over to the bar and mixed himself a Disaronno Sour while Jer prepared the coffee. This was not what he needed after an evening of dealing with diva Broadway actresses.

Jer plopped a cup of coffee in front of Finn and took a seat next to him. "What's going on man?" he asked, clapping Finn on the shoulder.

Finn grimaced as he took a sip of the coffee without cooling it first. Kurt looked on dully as he huffed and puffed in a drunken effort to relieve his stinging tongue. "If nothing else, this is going to be entertaining," he commented, stirring his drink with a decorative swizzle stick.

"We got into a fight," Finn finally managed to sputter.

"Well then say you're sorry, buy her some flowers, that's it, the end, get out of my house."

He groaned and fell back onto the table. "I don't think it's going to be that easy."

"Okay fine, I'll take the bait, what did you do?" Kurt said. He blinked innocently at Jer when he threw him a dirty glance, obviously not approving of his tone.

"I may have called her husband a dead bastard," he grumbled, his voice muffled.

"Oo," Jer and Kurt exclaimed in unison, complete with matching winces of sympathy.

"Were you already like… _this_… when you said that?" Jer asked.

"No…"

They both winced again.

"That's not all. I may have called her a Lima Loser." He was met with silence, save for the sound of Kurt's palm hitting his forehead. "Well, actually," Finn clarified, "she called herself that. I think I just agreed."

"What the hell is a Lima Loser?" Jer asked, but Kurt held up a hand.

"Why don't we back it up to the beginning? How did the argument start, Finn?"

He took a deep breath and put his head in his hands as if he was about to start sobbing. "She's moving back to Lima," he said brokenly. "She's leaving me… _again_!"

Kurt actually looked shocked. "Why on earth does she want to move back there for?"

"She lost her job or she quit – I don't know. She said it's to build a better life for her kids."

"Well, maybe this is a good thing," Jer offered.

"How is this a good thing?" Kurt scoffed.

Jer threw up his hands. "I don't know! That's just what my mom said when I told her I was gay."

Finn blinked a few times before grumbling, "What did your dad say?"

"'Get the hell out of my house.'"

"Oh, that's the direction we're really going for here," Kurt said sarcastically.

"Ugh, I just don't know what to do," Finn said a little frantically. "I can't lose her again!"

Kurt threw Finn a knowing look. "Well, you do know what this means, right?"

"What?"

"You're just going to have to ask her to marry you."

"What?" he blurted, looking at Kurt blearily. "I just can't do that! We've barely been together for a month. I mean, what if she says no?"

"So?"

"So… I don't know!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "She's a single mom, Finn, a _widow_. You can't just screw around with a widow, you should know of all people."

"Um, excuse me! You're the one who suggested I hook up with her to 'get a little action' in the first place!"

"Yes, but that's because I thought you and Rachel would reconnect, fall madly in love, get married, and make lots of babies. Really, do I have to spell everything out for you?"

Finn gaped at Kurt. He had no doubt in his mind that that was _exactly_ what Kurt had hoped to happen.

"Listen to me, Finn. This thing with you and Rachel, it never really ended. You know that. It doesn't matter who's right or wrong in this whole mess, and it's time for you to make your grand gesture."

Jer nodded in agreement. "He's right. I mean, do you love her or not?"

Finn set his jaw and stared down at his hands. "I… do." Then he smiled. "I really do."

"And do you think you could live without her?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think I could. Her _or_ Michael and Andrew."

"Well then," Kurt laughed, placing his hands Finn's shoulders, "that settles it. We need to sober you up and tomorrow we're going to Tiffany's!"

"Who's Tiffany?" he asked and Kurt jumped back as if something had burned him.

"Ugh, you are going to need so much help," Kurt grumbled. "Now, do you want to finish your coffee or do you want to go to bed?"

Finn stared blankly down at the mug in front of him. "Um… bed?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and together he and Jer were able to stand Finn up and lead him to their guest bedroom. He turned down the covers and grunted as they shoved his step-brother onto the bed. Finn was out before his head even hit the pillow. He shook his head and pulled the covers up to his chin and turned to follow Jer out of the room.

"Makes you want to have three more just like him, doesn't it?" Jer joked, putting his arm around Kurt's waist and planting a kiss on his forehead.

"Hardly. We'll have to talk to him again in the morning. I doubt he'll remember anything that was said tonight."

Jer nodded somberly as he followed Kurt throughout the apartment, turning out lights. "Do you think it's really a good idea to put that idea into his head?" he asked. "I mean, if he wants to marry her, shouldn't he come to that conclusion on his own?"

Kurt shrugged. "Finn's always been a little slow on the uptake, you know that. He's just a little slower than usual when it comes to Rachel. Believe me, as dysfunctional as they are separately, they actually function better when they're together."

"I believe it." He shook his head in wonderment at the predicament that his friend was in. "So, how was your day, baby?" he asked, changing the subject.

Kurt groaned as they walked into their bedroom together. "Sweetie, this fiasco was just icing on the cake."

* * *

Finn's head was swimming with information about karats and clarity and metal colors and settings, but Kurt seemed to have it under control as he talked to the saleswoman at Tiffany's. He was still severely hung over from the night before, but thankfully he was in full control of his faculties. He woke up that morning – or afternoon, he'd slept well past noon – with his mind going a million miles an hour.

Had it really been only 24 hours ago that he thought his life was going perfectly? Had it really been just a mere day since all of his hopes and dreams had been smashed against the rocks? After Rachel left, he threw a glorified tantrum and made a mess out of his apartment. He hadn't destroyed the TV or anything, but he did knock over a few chairs and his DVD shelf and scare the crap out his dog. He then proceeded to drink everything he had in his apartment, which included some beer and a whole lot of whiskey. He kind of freaked out when he woke up in a bed that wasn't his own, but he calmed down when he saw Pablo humping a throw pillow that had fallen to the floor.

When he stumbled out into the living room, Jer and Kurt just looked at him wordlessly and then turned back to the television. No one said anything for a while until Kurt broke the silence. "So, what are you going to do?"

Slowly, the conversation that they had the night before came back to him and he sat down to slowly process his thoughts. "I want to be with Rachel," he finally said. "No, I don't just want to be with her. I want to start a family with her. And the boys."

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Jer asked.

Finn nodded. "There was something missing with Audra, you know? I loved her, but it just wasn't _it_. That's because I had already found it. Rachel's always been the one for me. I've known that for years, but I had to force myself to try and get over her. Now I don't have to and I can't let the chance pass me by."

"Well, now that that's settled," Kurt said. "You need to go home and bathe. You reek. And then we'll go ring shopping."

"But I don't know her ring size or anything."

"Lucky for you, it's my job to know that kind of thing," Kurt admonished.

And that's how they'd ended up at Tiffany's. Idly he wondered if they actually served food or if they would have to go to dinner someplace else afterwards.

"Finn," Kurt called, snapping him out of his reverie. "Which cut do you prefer? I've narrowed it down to round, princess, and the Lucida."

Finn shrugged and leaned over to look at the diamonds assorted on a little piece of silk. "Something classy," he said, inspecting them carefully. He couldn't half-ass this decision; he only had one chance to buy Rachel the perfect ring. A simple platinum ring with a solitary square shaped diamond caught his eye. He kind of liked it. It wasn't too flashy, but the cut was still unique and he could easily imagine it adorning Rachel's ring finger. She'd stopped wearing that gaudy ring shortly after they became serious, and this one looked like a great alternative.

"What's that one?" he asked, nudging it gently with his finger.

"That's our Princess Cut," the saleswoman said. "A very elegant selection. That particular diamond is 1.5 karats."

He lifted it up and inspected it carefully, smiling triumphantly. Not too big, not too small, not too flashy… in short, it was perfect. It said something about him as much as it did her, and he was thrilled to have found exactly what he was looking for in such short a time. Sure, it was crazy expensive, but he was making good money now, he could afford it.

He exchanged a look with Kurt, who quirked his lips slightly in approval. "I mean, if that's the style you're looking for," he allowed.

"This is it," he told the anxious saleswoman, who heaved a sigh of relief.

"Let me put that in a box for you and then we can discuss payment options."

He leaned back on the counter and smiled over at Kurt. "Thanks for all of the help. I couldn't do it without you, you know?"

"Of course not." Kurt shrugged as he continued to inspect the rings in the case in front him. "We both know you're helpless."

"Either way, I appreciate it."

"Oh, stop with the theatrics. You're making me blush," Kurt said, waving a hand at Finn dismissively. "Now, we need to discuss your technique…"

* * *

He was nervous and jittery as he made his way over to Rachel's the following day. As soon as he had made up his mind, he had wanted to run back to her and tell her how sorry he was, but Kurt talked him into taking one more day in order to let her calm down. So, one sleepless night later, Finn was on his way to Rachel's house to apologize and propose. It was too late to take back what he said, and while he meant every word, he knew his delivery wasn't the most tactful. He'd really have to mind his temper now, especially once they were all living together.

He was still getting used to the idea that what he was doing meant, like, _forever_, but he knew he had never been more sure of anything in his life. It was a lasting relationship he was building with Rachel and it seemed pointless to delay the inevitable any longer. He and Rachel were meant for each other, and he was going to make her see it too, even it if was the last thing he did.

He took the subway instead of driving or hailing a cab; he needed a chance to get his thoughts together and he liked to take the trains every now and then since Puck had told him Edward Norton took them too. He hadn't seen him yet, but he figured he'd have something to rub in Puck's face when he went back home.

He rehearsed what he was going to say in his head over and over. Kurt told him to keep it simple and not to be too corny and he should be golden. So far he had gotten: "Rachel, I love you and I want us to be a family. Will you marry me?"

He considered saying something about how he had always loved her and he always would, but he didn't know if that was too much or too corny or both. A million other questions raced through his head as well. Should he mention the boys? What if they were there? Should he get on his knee?

Ugh, why did proposing have to be so difficult?

He was still mulling over his options as he exited at his stop and made his way back up to street level. He stuck his hand into his jacket pocket to make sure the ring was still in there. Reassured that the little blue box was still there, he walked the few blocks to Rachel's apartment, his stomach doing flip flops the entire way.

Finally, her building was in sight and he nearly ran the rest of the way. But instead Finn waited patiently for the traffic to clear, absently watching as a black Town Car and then an SUV pulling a U-Haul trailer pulled away from the curb. Then, taking a deep breath, he jogged across the street and up the stairs as quickly as he could.

He stood outside her door, willing his hands to stop shaking, before knocking smartly on her door a couple of times. He waited a minute and listened carefully. When he didn't hear any sounds from within, he knocked once more before trying the doorknob. Rachel never left the door unlocked, but the door bounced hollowly like it did when the deadbolt wasn't locked, and sure enough, it came right open.

He choked on a strangled cry when he saw that everything, except for the worn furniture she rented with the apartment, was gone.

"Rachel?" he called, hurrying to her bedroom only to find a bare mattress. It was the same in the boys' room, devoid of their toys with two empty twin beds sitting dejectedly in the room.

"Rachel?" he called again, even though he knew she was no longer there. He felt dizzy, his mind swimming from the shock and he plopped down on the sofa, holding his head in his hands. He should have known that when Rachel put her mind to something, nothing could stop her. But how could she just leave like that? How could she go without saying goodbye? Didn't he mean more to her than that?

"Hello?" a voice said from the doorway, and his head snapped up. He nearly groaned out loud when he saw it was just Mrs. Nedry, cradling a cat to her chest.

"Why, hello, dear," she said again once she recognized him.

"Mrs. Nedry," he responded, his voice hoarse and devoid of any emotion.

She looked at him sympathetically. "You know, they just left."

"What?"

"Yes, not even five minutes ago."

"Five…?" he stopped. The SUV pulling the trailer! He hopped up and ran past her. "Thanks, Mrs. Nedry!" he shouted as he hurried back down the stairs, skipping three steps at a time.

When he reached the street, he ran off in the direction he saw the vehicle going, hoping against hope that maybe they would become caught in traffic or get stuck at a light. He ran for what seemed like miles, weaving throughout the crowd and bumping into people. He ran until his legs grew weak and his lungs burned with the exertion.

Suddenly he stopped, realizing he had no idea where he was going. He took out his phone and dialed her number, gasping for breath as he listened to it ring only once before going straight to voicemail. He quickly hung up, knowing that he would probably say something he didn't mean if he left a message. He fought to clear his mind and calm down before turning around and walking in the direction he had come from.

Okay, so Rachel was on her way back to Lima. There was nothing he could do about it at the moment. He allowed himself a small, barely perceptible smile. That was alright.

Finn Hudson had a few more tricks up his sleeve yet.

* * *

Kurt groaned loudly and dropped the groceries at his feet when he walked back into his apartment to find Jer and Finn sitting at his dining room table _again_. Instead of empty bottles of alcohol though, they were surrounded by papers and Jer had his laptop open in front of him.

"What is it now?" he moaned. "She said no, didn't she? Now Finn's suicidal and you're helping him with his will."

"No," Finn said somberly. "She didn't say no."

"Well, what happened then?"

"She's already gone. She left a few minutes before I got there."

Kurt looked down at his step-brother patted his shoulder consolingly. "Well, maybe it's not meant to be."

"No," Finn insisted stubbornly. "That's bull and you know it. Rachel's being stubborn and I've just to show her that I mean business."

"And how do you plan to do that?" he asked, throwing Jer a worried glance.

"Finn wants to buy them a place to live."

Kurt nodded slowly. "Okay… that makes… sense."

"I can't bring her and the boys back to a one bedroom apartment. I've gotta do something _big_. Rachel needs a grown up not a – a _frat_ boy," Finn said bitterly.

"Finn," Kurt said, taking a seat next to him, "I understand the sentiment, I really do. But can you afford this? I mean, I know you have a good job but this is a _huge_ step you're taking. Would Rachel do the same for you?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I love her and I've gotta do what I've gotta do to provide a good life for her and the boys."

Jer looked up from his laptop. "Well, I really don't think you can afford anything in Manhattan, but the good news you've got lots of options in the boroughs. If push comes to shove, we can look in Jersey."

"_Jersey_?" Kurt hissed. "You're crazy if you think Rachel's going to live in New Jersey."

"Don't be a Ted Mosby," Jer admonished. "There's nothing wrong with New Jersey. Besides, Finn's more like Marshall Eriksen anyway, and Marshall loved it."

"Okay," Finn muttered, looking back and forth between Kurt and Jer, "who's Marshall Eriksen?"

"Never mind," Jer grunted, turning back to the computer screen.

Kurt laughed dryly. "You think that's bad, he actually thought we could eat breakfast at Tiffany's."

Jer shook his head in disbelief. "Finn, my friend, I think you're going to need more help than we can give you."

"So, what do you plan on doing about Rachel while you look for a place to live?" Kurt asked, standing up to gather the groceries. "Are you going to try and get in touch with her to let her know it's not over?"

"Yeah… I will," Finn grumbled, turning back to the numbers he and Jer had been crunching. "I'm just going to give her a little time to herself, let her sort some things out. Let me get my head on straight. Then I'll give her a call."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well, don't wait too long. We all know it Rachel won't waste her time finding someone new. And Lima is just _crawling _with potential suitors."

"I'm not worried about that. I've already called somebody to keep an eye on her."

"Oh, that's good," Kurt commented absently, opening the refrigerator to put away the milk. Suddenly he stopped and turned on his heel to throw a pointed glance at him. "Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"_Who_ exactly did you call?"

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__This chapter's for all the reviewers and people on Tumblr and Twitter who are speculating on A Tempo – it seriously makes me blush when I see AT mentioned. (Okay, so maybe I'm a little bit of a creeper, but my RL friends don't know about my fanfiction addiction, so I'm not exactly 'out of the closet' yet.) Sorry this chapter doesn't resolve anything, I just had to twist the knife in there a little more._

_Oh, for anyone who doesn't watch __**How I Met Your Mother**__ and doesn't get Kurt and Jer's exchange, here's what Marshall has to say about New Jersey in the episode "I Heart NJ":_

"I hate New York! I'm sorry, but it's true! Today, I was walking around PriceCo. Have you been there? It's huge! All the stores in New York are so cramped! Every time I turn around I knock something over. I'm like some huge monster that came out of the oceans to destroy bodegas! [...] I'm too big for New York, okay! I'm always trying to fit into cramped little subway seats, or duck under doorways that were built a hundred and fifty years ago. Hey, people are bigger now! Build bigger doorways! What the hell is wrong with you? [...] And it's so loud. All the time. Yes, I know it's the city that never sleeps, but guess what? I like to sleep! I've been tired for eight years! Tired and scared, with black and blue marks on my elbows from trying to fit into all these tiny elf doorways! New Jersey's great! It's got huge stores, and lawns, and you never have to carry a cup again! For the rest of your life! I'm not afraid to say it: I love New Jersey!"

_Finn called Ghostbusters, BTW.  
_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	15. A New Project

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Fourteen: A New Project**

"Mom," Michael whined, "that guy is still following us."

"Don't turn around," Rachel ordered, pushing the cart as fast as she could without leaving her sons behind. "Just keep walking."

Rachel had never been one of those people who blatantly hated the town, she just had bigger dreams than what Lima had to offer, and already she was beginning the feel monotony of small town life. Life consisted of working, sleeping, eating, and watching TV. She needed to find something to do with her time… besides running from the creeper in the white truck that had been following her around town the past couple of weeks.

When she reached her car (the same one she had driven in high school), she shuffled the boys inside and hurried to load her groceries into the trunk. She was just opening her door when a hand shot out and forced it back closed, causing her to scream in terror.

"Calm down, Berry, it's just me."

"Noah Puckerman!" she screeched. "Don't you _ever_ do that to me again, do you understand me?"

Puck just grinned devilishly and shifted his weight to one foot. "Is that any way to greet an old friend?"

"Old friend? Wasn't it you that once told me we had never been friends?"

"Ah, c'mon Berry, that was high school." He leaned over so that their noses were nearly touching. "You can't hold me accountable for what I said and did that long ago."

She leaned back and crossed her arms in an attempt to shield herself from the man in front of her. "What do you want, Noah?" she asked. "Why have you been stalking me since I moved back?"

"Stalking you? Baby, I don't need to stalk anybody. I'm just doing a favor for a pal."

Rachel groaned. "I'm afraid to even ask who."

"Ah, give him a break. Hudson's been butt sore since you've left New York. He's been calling me every damn day since you left asking if I've checked up on you. I swear to God, you two are worse than a couple of horny teenagers."

She sighed in exasperation. "Noah, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't speak like that in front of my children."

"Like what? They're in the car anyway."

"We can still hear you!" Michael shouted through the window, glaring at Puck.

"Hey, mind your own business!" Puck snapped, slapping the glass and causing both Michael and Andrew to jump in the car.

"Puckerman!" she hissed. "While I fully understand that you have every intention to torture me, I do ask that you refrain from arguing with my seven year old."

"He started it," Puck argued, setting his jaw stubbornly.

Rachel rolled her eyes and opened her car door. "Well, it was lovely catching up with you, Noah. You can report that I'm doing well to –" she stopped and cast a furtive glance at her sons in the rearview mirror, "well, you know who."

Suddenly, Puck slid over the hood of her car á la Luke Duke and jumped into her passenger seat. "What's for lunch?" he asked. "I was kinda thinking about IHOP, but I'm game for anything. You fly, I buy."

"Noah," Rachel cried in frustration, "we are not going to IHOP with you. Or anywhere else for that matter; we already have plans."

"We do?" Andrew chimed in from the backseat.

"No, stupid," Michael snapped. "She was just trying to get rid of him."

"Michael, don't use that kind of language," she scolded. She was starting to regret enrolling him in a public school, but unfortunately, Lima's list of private schools was fairly short.

"He's adorable," Puck muttered sarcastically. "I can't wait to have a dozen just like him."

"Noah, I truly appreciate the offer, but I honestly can't go to lunch with you right now. Don't you have a girlfriend or someone else to go bother?"

"Santana?" he asked. Then he shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "Nah. I mean, yeah, we're living together, but it's not like we're _exclusive _or anything."

Rachel shook her head in disbelief. "You'll never change, will you?"

"Nope. I'm kinda like that fish on _Finding Nemo_, you know? 'Just keep swimming.'" He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "Goodbye, Noah."

"Alright, I'll let you blow me off this time. But I promised my boy I'd look out for you, so don't be surprised if you see me around from time to time."

"Thank you for your concern," she grumbled. She heaved a sigh of relief and watched as he made his way back to his truck, cursing herself for not seeing the Puckerman Remodeling logo stenciled neatly on the side before. Of course, she had been a little preoccupied lately with getting settled in, starting a new job, Michael's birthday, and her other little… _issue_, which coincidentally was the reason why she was in such a hurry to get home.

She normally was a very careful driver, especially while her children were in the car, but she practically peeled out of the parking lot and sped the entire way home. With Andrew and Michael's help, she unloaded their groceries in record time.

"Michael," she said, picking up the bag with her toiletries, "I need you to look after your brother for a few minutes."

"Can we go outside?" he asked.

She thought it over for a moment. True, it was a small house with a small yard, but their little apartment could have fit in the lot three times over, and the boys absolutely loved having a yard to run around. "Okay," she allowed, "but stay in the backyard."

At that, they both whooped loudly and ran for the sliding glass doors. "And no climbing the trees!" she called after them just as the door slammed shut. Once she was alone in the house, she ran into her bathroom and shut and locked the door behind her. With a shaking hand, she dug around the plastic bag and produced the pregnancy test she had just bought.

The next seven minutes were absolutely nerve-wracking.

She'd always been careful before, always taking her birth control pills at the same time every day, but there had been a few days when she hadn't taken any because she wasn't able to afford her refill. Apparently she was patient enough to wait to pick up her prescription, but not patient enough when it came to Finn. She had completely forgotten about it and they had had sex a few times with no protection. Of course, she knew her body like the back of her hand (usually), and the calendar on her phone had indicated that she shouldn't have been ovulating, so she didn't give it too much thought at the time.

But she should have known from previous experience that she was probably the single most fertile woman on the planet. Michael had been a welcome accident after a stint of antibiotics when she had her tonsils removed, and Andrew had been conceived only a few weeks after she and David had decided to try for another baby. All the signs were pointing to one conclusion: she was late (and she was _never _late), she had morning sickness and dizziness, and of course all around irritability. So here she was, pacing back and forth in her small bathroom, chewing worriedly on her thumbnail, while she waited for the results of the test.

What was she going to do if she really was pregnant? Sure, they were okay now that she had started her new job, but a single mom with three kids? It would surely kill her! And, of course, there was the fact that she would be raising Finn Hudson's bastard child. How on earth was she going to break that news to him after she had pretty much left him hanging in New York without a word?

Ugh, that man was infuriating. She hadn't heard from him in nearly three weeks, and while he didn't care enough to actually call her directly, he had the gall to ask the most irritating person alive to check up on her! He really knew how to irritate her in all the right ways.

But she did miss him. Very much so. She had fought the urge to call him back when she saw his one missed call and was disappointed that he hadn't tried to call her since. In fact, she was sure she'd feel more excited about having another baby if he had shown any inclination of maintaining their relationship. She was willing to overlook all the hateful things he had said that day and was more than ready to admit her part in the fallout if only he would call. But day after day and night after night, she was left disappointed and heartbroken.

The timer on her phone went off, causing her to jump. She closed her eyes and drew in a steadying breath before slowly picking up the pregnancy test. Rachel stared unseeingly at the result, then calmly set the stick back down and plopped down on the floor.

She was pregnant. There was no question about it. She was going to have Finn's baby.

Suddenly she felt sick and hurried over to the toilet to retch dryly inside. She stayed that way, her head hanging over the bowl for a minute, while she calmed herself down. She flushed the toilet and sat back, letting her head rest against the wall. She needed a plan of action. First things first, she would have to find an OB/GYN and set up an appointment. Then she would have to start making preparations for the new arrival. Sure, she probably had at least another seven and a half months to go, but she'd need to get started collecting baby furniture and clothes right away.

She heard Michael and Andrew's voices drifting through the quiet house. Shakily she stood up and walked into the kitchen where they were grabbing themselves some water.

"Are you okay, Mama?" Michael asked, looking up at her. "You look funny."

"I don't know, baby," she said, pouring herself a glass of water and drinking greedily. "Will you two sit down for a second?"

Michael and Andrew looked at her in confusion but took their seats at the table with no questions.

"I know the past few weeks have been very difficult for the three of us," she began. "A lot has changed and I know we were hoping that things would settle down and life could be normal for a little while. But I'm afraid it looks like things are going to get a little crazier." She paused and looked at her sons, hoping this news wouldn't upset them too much. "Boys, I'm going to have a baby."

"What?" Michael asked. "How? You're not married."

"Well, sweetie, you don't really have to be married in order to have a baby. Sometimes these things just happen that way."

"But there's got to be a dad, right?" he persisted. "How can we have a baby brother or sister if our dad isn't even alive?"

Rachel bit her lip and tried to think of a good way to answer his question. "You're right," she finally said. "Finn's the daddy, sweetie."

Michael stared at her silently and blinked up at her.

She sighed and stared down into her glass of water. "I know it's hard for you to understand, but believe me when I say that this baby is just as much your sibling as Andy is. Just because you have different dads doesn't mean that you should treat her any differently than you would your whole sister."

"It's a girl?" Andrew asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Oh!" Rachel gasped, her hand dropping down to her middle. She didn't know what had caused her to say that. Maybe it was because she had always imagined Finn with a little girl. He would do so well with one. She shook the thought of his tall frame sitting at a too-small table and playing tea party out of her head and smiled weakly at Andrew. "I don't really know yet. We won't find out what the baby is for another few months. I'm really going to need your help when the baby comes. We're going to have to be closer now more than ever."

Michael frowned. "Are we going to move back to New York?"

"No, why would we do that?"

"So you and Finn can get married. We've got to live in the same city as him if you're gonna have a baby together, right?"

"No, sweetie. It doesn't work that way," she answered, swallowing past the lump in her throat.

"Well, are you going to tell him?"

"Mhm," she squeaked. "Just as soon as I see the doctor. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more of him after that."

"That's good," Michael replied. "I like Finn."

"Me too," Andrew echoed.

She nodded. "Me too. Now do you have any more questions for me?"

Both boys shook their heads. "Okay then, why don't you go on back outside while I rest on the sofa for a little bit, hm?"

"Let's go, Andy," Michael said, taking his brother's hand.

She watched as they hurried back outside and sat down in the middle of the yard. She was sure they were discussing this new development, and she would leave them to their own thoughts.

She shuffled over to the couch and lay down to stare on the ceiling. Michael had brought up a good point. How in the world was she going to tell Finn he was going to be a father?

* * *

Four days later and Rachel was still no closer to an answer than she had been when she first learned she was pregnant. She had already been to the doctor and he confirmed that she was indeed expecting a healthy baby and she was roughly five weeks along. She knew time was of the essence; it was only a matter of time before she started showing and she knew she would eventually run into either Carole or Burt Hummel. There was no keeping this a secret from Finn forever.

Not that she wanted to keep it from him. She was sure that Finn would want to play an active part in his child's life even if he didn't want anything to do with her. It wasn't something she wanted to tell him over the phone and, short of flying to New York and showing up on his front step like a fallen woman, she didn't know what else to do.

Oh well, she would have to think about it later, she thought as she stared up at the front of her alma mater. She had been driving by WMHS when she thought she would stop in and see how some of her old teachers were doing, particularly Mr. Schuester, who had taught her some very valuable life lessons, despite trying to ruin her life at every possible opportunity. Humility being one.

She walked up the stairs and into the building. The hallways were empty since the high school let out earlier than the junior high, so she took a moment to stop and admire their National's trophy in the trophy case. Also enclosed in the case was a picture of the 2012 New Directions. She looked down at her own smiling face, surrounded by her friends, Finn standing next to her and smiling broadly as he held her to his side. Oh, how things had changed…

She followed the hallway to the front office, having observed the "All visitors must sign in" sign upon entering the school. She ducked her head and let her hair cover her face as Coach Sylvester exited the office, a look of distaste on her face. Either she didn't see Rachel, or she didn't recognize her, but either way, Rachel was glad to have avoided _that_ confrontation.

"Hello," she told the receptionist. "I'm here to speak with Mr. William Schuester and I need to sign in."

The receptionist wordlessly pushed a clipboard over to Rachel. Rachel signed her name and smiled politely at the woman. She straightened up and was about to walk out of the office when she noticed a familiar redhead sitting in what was formally Principal Figgins' office. A cursory glance at the name plaque by the door confirmed her suspicions. She walked over to the door and knocked lightly, causing Principal Schuester, née Pillsbury, to look up from her paperwork.

It took her a moment to recognize Rachel, but when she did, she smiled and motioned for Rachel to come in. "Rachel," she said, standing up, "it's so very good to see you." She leaned over to give Rachel a hug without actually touching her save for a light pat on the back.

"Miss Pills – Mrs. Schuester!" Rachel exclaimed. She took a seat in one of the chairs across from her desk. "I had no idea that you were the principal now."

"Oh yes," she said, sitting back down and pumping a handful of sanitizer into her hand. "Principal Figgins retired a couple of years ago and it was either me or Coach Sylvester. I guess the school board decided that I would be less of a pain to deal with."

Rachel giggled. "I wholeheartedly agree. I see she's still coaching the Cheerios."

"Well, I'd be lying if I said she isn't good at what she does, even if her methods are a little unusual."

"And you're married," Rachel added, indicating to her nameplate.

Emma smiled and nodded. "Oh yes. We actually got married around the same time you did." At Rachel's confused look, she hurried to explain, "Our wedding announcements ran in the same issue of the paper."

"Oh, yes," Rachel murmured and self-consciously looked down at her empty ring finger.

As observant as ever, Emma looked at Rachel knowingly and clasped her hands in front of her on her desk. "Will and I were both very sorry to hear about your husband, Rachel," she commented.

Rachel laughed hollowly. "Did my fathers have that printed in the newspaper as well?"

"Well, no," Emma said, albeit a little reluctantly. "Will keeps in touch with several of his old students. Finn Hudson e-mailed him about it a few months back."

"Of course he did!" Rachel grumbled.

"He also said you have a couple of children…"

She smiled and nodded. "Two boys, Michael and Andrew. Michael just turned seven and Andrew will be four in November."

Emma turned a frame around on her desk and presented Rachel with a picture of two auburn-haired children laughing on a beach. "Adam and Alyssa," she said proudly. "They just turned five."

"Twins?" Rachel laughed, looking down at the picture for a closer look. "You must have your hands full!"

"Not anymore than running a high school." Rachel nodded in agreement and set the photo back on the desk. "So, what brings you back to Lima, Rachel?"

Rachel shrugged. "Oh, you know, things in New York are tough for a single mom so I decided to bring the boys home for a good, wholesome upbringing." She quirked her lips in a semblance of a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Emma raised an eyebrow and leaned over slightly to whisper, "You know, I wouldn't want to pry, but if you ever feel like talking, I'm a willing listener." At Rachel's skeptical look, she laughed. "I know I'm the principal now, but I'm still very much Ms. Pillsbury, the guidance counselor, at heart."

And that's when it happened. Rachel started talking and talking. She didn't speak just of the recent move; she started from the _very _beginning. From the day she left Lima the first time, how she broke up with Finn and then met David. She spoke about how she allowed herself to lose her dreams. She talked about David's death and the mess he left her in. She told her former guidance counselor about the boys and how she reconnected with Finn, how she realized she was still in love with him. She even told her about that baby. She didn't know how long she rambled, she lost complete track of time, but Emma just sat and listened, not speaking, just shaking her head in encouragement.

When Rachel was finally done, she slumped back in her chair in exhaustion. "I just don't understand what happened to me. I think back to the girl in the picture in the hallway, and as much as I love my sons, I can't help but think that she would be so disappointed if she saw me now. What caused that her to stop fighting?"

"Mind if I take a stab at it?" Emma asked when Rachel was through.

"Please, by all means."

"Well, I think growing up you always had this one singular goal. Oftentimes that fierce drive you had left you alienated. I'm not saying you became too dependent upon Finn, but I can tell you from seeing it with my own two eyes that he helped you open up. You became more vulnerable, more apt to let people in one you started seeing him. I think somewhere in that journey, your identity changed, whether you realized it or not.

"You left for New York to start on the life you had always dreamed of, but you weren't completely the Rachel Berry you thought you were. You needed people in your life that you could trust, someone you could lean on. You became frustrated because things weren't as easy as you thought they would be, so you cut ties with Finn and found someone else to lean on. The problem with that is you went from Rachel-and-Finn to Rachel-and-David without stopping to evaluate what just Rachel wanted.

"So, now you need to sit down and ask yourself, 'What does Rachel want?' You're the kind of person who needs a goal, something to work towards. I think that once you identify what it is you want to do with your life, and then maybe you'll begin to feel more like yourself again."

Rachel stared at Emma with her mouth wide open before throwing her hands up in the air. "Nearly 18 years of therapy and it takes a former guidance counselor to figure out that I have identity issues!"

"Well, I was a _very_ good guidance counselor," she laughed lightly.

"So you're just saying I need to sit down and figure out what my new goal is?"

Emma shrugged. "If you haven't done so yet."

Rachel bit her lip. "I don't think I'll ever make it to Broadway."

"Who said your goal has to lead you back to Broadway? Just because you're not famous doesn't mean you're mediocre, Rachel." Emma looked down at the picture of her children. "I'm sure there are many other things your talented at."

"Oh, I am a very good mother. My children have been my priority since they were born."

"I don't doubt it." The phone rang just then and Emma sighed. "I'm sorry, Rachel, I've been expecting this call all day."

They shared a quick smile and Rachel stood. "Thank you, Mrs. Schuester. I'll give what you said a lot of thought."

"Just one moment," Emma said to the person on the line. She put it on hold for a second before calling to Rachel, "Oh, and Rachel?"

Rachel stopped and looked at her inquisitively. "Your secret is safe with me, but you really should tell you-know-who about the you-know-what as soon as possible."

"I will," she murmured, slipping out as Emma took the call. Easier said than done, and she would tell Finn about the baby… eventually. She just had to think of a good when and how.

Making her way to the choir room, she mulled over everything Mrs. Schuester had said. She was almost dizzy from thinking about the simple revelation. She used to wake up every morning and set herself a daily goal and she hadn't done that in years. Maybe that was the small platform she needed to jump off of in the grand voyage of finding out who this new person was.

True, she had once been Rachel Berry, future Broadway star, but that hope had followed through the cracks. What did she want to be? What did she want to do with her life? She knew the end result didn't have to be a career path, so what else was she good at? She knew she was persistent, but that had never exactly been a virtue. But maybe she could spin it to her advantage!

She was stuck in Lima, but maybe that's what she was meant to do. Make Lima, Ohio a better place!

She had just reached the choir room when a small girl with glasses ran out and ducked across the hall. She was holding her chest and breathing hysterically like she was having a panic attack. She was about to approach the poor thing to make sure she was alright when a boy in a letterman followed her out.

"Hey, Anna," he said, patting her on the back. "What's going on? That was _great_!"

"R-really?" she asked, looking up at him with big eyes.

"Of course it was. You've just got you, you know, belt it out! I know you've got it in you." He smiled down at her, oblivious to Rachel watching them. They walked back into the choir room and Rachel followed thoughtfully after them.

Maybe she'd found herself her first project.

Sure, she was stuck teaching at the middle school level, but that didn't mean she couldn't actively participate with the New Directions. As the middle school choir director, she was in the perfect spot to scout future talent and she was just full of ideas. She was sure Mr. Schuester would be more than thrilled to hear what she had to think. And she could offer her services as a vocal coach to any interested members!

"Hey, Annabel, you alright?" she heard him ask the obviously very shy girl as she took her seat. Annabel nodded and Rachel took the opportunity to clear her throat in order to get his attention.

"Rachel?" he gasped upon seeing her standing in the doorway. "_Rachel Berry_?"

She walked in, her head held up high. "Hello, Mr. Schuester. Hello, New Directions." She placed her hands on her hips and smiled widely out at the dumbfounded group watching her. "I'm here to help!"

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__The hunches had it! I hope no one's disappointed._

_I wrote a lot of it last night and started getting very tired towards the end. Upon rereading, I found a lot of typos, so please let me know if you spot anymore. (I know none of the chapters are perfect and I often edit things after they are posted, but this one I feel was worse than the others in that regard.)_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	16. A 'Freaking Cool' Elevator

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Fifteen: A 'Freaking Cool' Elevator**

Finn adjusted his jacket as he made his way through the Upper West Side neighborhood that Jer had convinced him into meeting at after work. He had no clue what his friend was playing at. Finn was well aware that he couldn't really afford anything in Manhattan, much less on the Upper West Side, but after looking at so many apartments, townhomes, and condos throughout the various boroughs, he was willing to humor him.

He sighed. Who would have thought that this whole house hunting thing would be so tough? It had already been a little over a month and it didn't feel like he was any closer to finding a place than when he started. Of course things were going smoothly with Jer's help; he'd been helping Finn as an unofficial financial advisor, although he did keep threatening to start charging him. Luckily he was pretty good at hoarding money, so he actually had a sizeable down payment saved up, and he'd already gotten pre-approved for a loan. He had even made a couple of offers, one on a townhome in Brooklyn and a house in New Jersey, but both had fallen through. He was starting to feel more than a little disappointed; he really wanted to have this done with by the time he saw Rachel again.

It was already going on six weeks of her being gone and he missed her more than he could say. He wanted to call her, but Puck informed him that she was still calling him "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named", so he was thinking about just stopping in on her when they went to visit for his mom's birthday in a few weeks. From what he heard, she and the boys were doing well. She was apparently volunteering a lot around town and giving voice lessons to some members of the glee club.

He saw Jer in the distance and waved at him as he walked up. He looked down at himself and immediately felt like an old English professor compared to Jer in his three-piece business suit. He had to dress the part now that he was a senior producer, but Jer looked like he owned half of New York. "What are you letting Kurt dress you now or something?" he joked as he walked up.

"Man, shut up," Jer said self-consciously. "I had a meeting with the partners today."

Finn chuckled before looking up at the massive brownstone they were standing in front of. "So, uh, what's up with this place? I thought we decided I couldn't afford anything in Manhattan, much less _this_."

Jer grinned and spread his arms out wide over his head. "I know, great isn't it? Just wait until you see inside."

He followed Jer up the stairs as Jer explained, "My friend set me up with this realtor. Apparently, this place just went on the market and, surprisingly enough, it's well within your budget."

He opened the front door and they stepped into the foyer. Finn wrinkled his nose as the musty scent of a house that hadn't been occupied in a while assaulted his senses. He allowed his eyes to adjust to the dim light before he turned to Jer in surprise. "Jer, this entryway is _pink_."

Sure enough, the entire foyer was painted a light rose from the baseboard to crown moulding. Jer just grinned and motioned him into the living room where the realtor was waiting. "Mr. Hudson," she said, extending her hand. "Mr. Hebert. I'm pleased to meet you both."

"Yeah, you too," Finn mumbled, distracted by the huge room he was standing in. Good lighting, he noted, a huge fireplace, scuffed wood floors, and dark wood paneling.

"So from what I understand, you're looking for a family home?" she asked.

He gave a noncommittal sound in his throat while Jer explained what he was looking for.

"Well, you will find that this particular home has a tremendous amount of potential. It was built in 1868 and boasts much of the original woodwork. There are six bedrooms, four and a half baths, a dining room, a finished basement, and a small garden in the back."

Finn whistled as he spun in a slow circle and surveyed the room around him. "See, lots of room for future little Hudsons to run around in," Jer commented with a chuckle. "Of course, in your case, I don't know how _little_ they'll be."

"So why's this place so cheap?" Finn asked, looking at the realtor. "Did someone die in here or something?"

"No… no one's passed away on the property from what I understand," she said with an awkward little laugh. "The home did belong to an elderly woman, but she lived in a retirement community during her last few years. It's her nephew who's looking to sell and he wants to unload it fairly quickly. He even went ahead and had the house inspected in order to expedite the process." She turned on her heel and led them towards what Finn figured to be the kitchen.

"Yeah, how about you let me do the talking, buddy," Jer muttered as they followed her.

"What?" he hissed. "It was a valid question!"

"Now, the house has been well-maintained," the realtor said, stopping in the doorway to flip on the lights, "but as you can see, it hasn't been fully renovated since 1976."

"Oh my God." He looked over at Jer. "Did I just step onto the set of _That '70s Show_?"

He wasn't far from wrong. The cabinetry was painted yellow and the Formica countertops were lime green. Of course, the appliances matched the countertops perfectly. And the wallpaper… there was no way for him to explain it without being under the influence of narcotics.

"You can see it's a large space, the cabinetry is in good shape, and the appliances do come with the home. As does any furniture that has been left in the house." She met Finn's eye and smiled brightly. "It has a lot of potential."

He loosened his tie and forced a smile. "Yeah, I can see that."

"That's the way down to the basement," she said, indicating to a door across the room. "There are washer and dryer hookups downstairs." She led them through the dining room which looked out on the small, overgrown garden in the back. It wasn't huge, but it was plenty of room for the boys and Tank to run around in.

They made a loop, coming back into the living room. They were about the head upstairs when Finn noticed an odd pair of double doors behind the staircase and pointed them out. "Oh, that's an elevator," she said dismissively. "It was installed a few years ago when it became difficult for the previous owner to go up and down the stairs."

"Holy _shit_," Jer mouthed behind her back and gave him a thumbs up.

They followed her through the second story where there three bedrooms, two joined by a Jack and Jill bathroom, and an extra bathroom off of the third bedroom. Of course all the wallpaper was hideous, the bathrooms needed to totally be scrapped, and the light fixtures were questionable at best. The third floor consisted of two more bedrooms, a bathroom, and even more dicey decorating.

The tour ended on the fourth floor master suite, which would have been sweet had it not been for the wallpaper and scratched floors. Everything was fixable of course, but it was going to take a lot of work. The room was extra large with space for a sitting area. He peeked into the master bath and almost ran out of the room. "I feel like I'm having an acid trip," he commented surveying the wallpaper, which was a dizzying mess of butterflies in various shades of orange and green with metallic accents.

"Yes, but as you can see it is a wonderful space and it has quite a bit of –"

"Potential," Jer and Finn finished for the realtor together.

"Yes… well, I'm going to head back downstairs now." She smiled and turned to Finn. "Feel free to take another look around and discuss things with your partner."

"Oh, he's not my –"

"It's okay, baby," Jer kidded, looping his arm around Finn as the realtor left the room, "we don't have to hide our love anymore."

"You're sick," he grumbled, shoving Jer away from him.

"That's not what Kurt said last night."

"Okay, I thought we agreed we wouldn't discuss what goes on in your bedroom, like, _ever_. Can we kinda stick to that please?"

Jer snickered as he walked over to the window. "So, what do you think?"

Finn sighed and ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "I don't know, man. It needs a lot of work. The plumbing needs to be redone –"

"Just the fixtures," Jer amended.

"– all of the walls need to be stripped and repainted, the floors need to be refinished, the countertops, the electrical, the lighting…" he trailed off and shrugged. "I just don't know."

"Look, I know it's a lot of work. But don't you think the pros outweigh the cons?"

"Like how? I can't bring Rachel back to this mess."

"First, it's not a mess and second, don't you think Rachel would like having some place that you can fix up together and make your own?"

Finn didn't say anything.

"I've already thought this through," Jer continued. "Painting we can do over a few weeks. We can probably even rig up the lighting without electrocuting ourselves. You'll have to hire somebody to do the floors and other labor. But you can save on material by getting with your contractor friend – whatshisname? The one who's babysitting Rachel?"

"Puck."

"Yeah, him. He can get you materials at cost."

"But… what if Rachel says no?" Finn asked. He was trying to maintain a positive attitude and didn't dwell on the fact that Rachel may not even want to marry him, but he couldn't help but worry about it.

"She won't say no," Jer insisted. "And even if she does and you don't want the house anymore, Kurt's and my lease is up in a few months. We can move in here and help you out until you find yourself a new apartment and then we'll fix it up ourselves. Kurt's been talking about ordering a few midgets in a few years anyway."

"What?" Finn looked over at Jer in surprise. After spending so much time with them, he didn't see Jer and Kurt as anything but normal (as normal as Kurt could be, of course), but it still took a large leap of imagination for him to picture them with kids.

"I know. Crazy right?" Jer laughed. "I mean, I don't have a problem with it. It would probably be cool to have a little mini-divas running around, but you know me. I'm still a little bit of a traditionalist, so I told him no kiddos unless we run off to Connecticut first and he lets me make an honest woman out of him."

"What did he say?"

"He just kind of laughed it off."

"Well, did you get him a ring?"

Jer furrowed his brow. "Do you think I'm supposed to?"

"I don't know," Finn said with a shrug. "I've never proposed to a guy before. But, I mean, it is _Kurt_."

"Damn. And I thought being with another man would be easy."

Finn walked back into the bathroom to leave Jer to his thoughts and shoved his hands in his pockets. His eyes fell on the only spot that wasn't an eyesore in the entire room, a large claw foot tub which stood proudly below a window. Rachel would definitely like that, he thought, and he couldn't help but smile at the fact that he could probably fit in it no problem.

Also, the house did have some furniture he wouldn't mind keeping – the dining room boasted a set in good condition, which would save him on another set. The rest he could sell to an antique shop or something and use the money on the remodel. He bit his lip; he was already thinking of the house as his own. He would have to move fast if he wanted to put in an offer.

Jer was right. Sure, he'd seen plenty of nicer houses, but the location was great and this house just had something about it that made him feel like this was the place for his family. He could just hear Rachel arguing with Kurt about paint swatches and lighting choices. And there was that great window up front that would be perfect for a Christmas tree – or a Hanukkah tree – or whatever. And plenty of extra bedrooms. He could make one into a tricked out office for himself and there was one on the third floor that was perfect for a nursery. Idly he wondered what Rachel thought about having another baby, but he figured they would cross that bridge when they got to it.

And the elevator _was_ freaking cool.

He turned back around and smiled at Jer. "I think I'm going to put in an offer."

* * *

_Three weeks later_

"Well, you could have done worse," Kurt commented when he came downstairs.

Finn chuckled wryly from his spot in the middle of the bare living room where he and Jer were snacking on sandwiches. He had figured it would take forever for the deal to go through, but his realtor hadn't been lying when she said that the old lady's nephew really wanted to get rid of the place. Apparently he owned his own island or something and really didn't have the time to mess with an old townhome in Manhattan.

He was still waiting for all the paperwork to go through before he could officially call the house _his_, but he had a key so he could come and go as he pleased. He'd already been there the night before and randomly started ripping wallpaper off in a manic episode of buyer's remorse. He even got so nervous that he barfed in the downstairs restroom before he realized that the water was still shut off. He was still kicking himself over that one and had plugged in several air fresheners so the entire house wouldn't reek of vomit on top of the smell dust and old people.

"Just think of it as a clean slate," Kurt said, crossing his arms and looking up at the light fixture with a wrinkled nose. "We just have to, you know, wipe the slate clean first. Thoroughly clean."

"With Clorox!" Jer contributed, his mouth full of pastrami on rye. "Or some acid. But not the kind that they were on when they put up the wallpaper in your bathroom. That was the good kind."

"Yeah," Finn agreed.

"Well, apparently you've already started ripping off the wallpaper. I suggest you start priming the walls and leave it at that until Rachel decides which colors she wants on the walls."

"Well, how about –"

"No," Kurt cut him off. "You don't get a say-so anymore. You're practically a married man now, Finn, and you'll just have to leave the decision-making to those who are equipped to make them."

"But I'm paying –"

"Of course, I'll have to give her some pointers. Like we're definitely going to have to paint over this wood paneling. It's much too dark and closes up the room."

Finn turned to Jer and smiled at him. "I'm so glad I bought him a house."

"It takes the pressure off of me," Jer grumbled.

"So, Finn, have you decided how you're going to do it?"

"Um, I was thinking one room at a time."

"Not _that_. You do realize that this time next week we will be on our way to Lima, Ohio where the indelible Widow Kutner is waiting for you to go sweep her off her feet. Please tell me you weren't planning on just going up to her and winging it."

"No… I have a plan," he said before taking a big bite of sandwich so that he wouldn't have to make something up for Kurt's benefit. Of course he didn't have a plan! The only thing he could think of doing is going up to her house like a creeper and falling down on one knee. Or maybe he should ask her to dinner first. But all they had in Lima were Breadstix and an IHOP.

Yeah, this proposing thing wasn't looking like it was any easier. At least he still had the ring.

"Well, for the love of all that is holy, don't do anything as cliché as falling down on one knee. And don't take her to Breadstix or IHOP. As questionable as they may be, Rachel does have standards."

"Ooh, I know!" Jer exclaimed. "How about you have the kids spell it out or something?"

"That's not a bad idea!" He grinned and fist bumped Jer for the good idea.

"Okay, how about something that doesn't involve kidnapping," Kurt sighed. "Unless you plan on telling Rachel _why_ you're borrowing her children. Besides, do they even know how to spell?"

Finn paused. "I think so. I mean, Michael should."

That was something he should probably find out about his future stepsons. He was probably going to have to help them with homework eventually. Was he allowed to use a calculator when they started algebra? Maybe he'd just let Rachel handle homework duty and he'd just wash the dishes or something.

The more and more Finn thought about it, the more he kept picturing the life he was going to build with Rachel and their sons. He knew full well that they weren't his children biologically, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to be the best dad in the world for them. He was going to be there for them; he was going to take them to Disney World, be there for their soccer games, walk them to school, meet their teachers, talk to them about girls (specifically about what could and couldn't happen in hot tubs), and all that other good stuff.

He was now convinced that there was no way that Rachel was going to say no to his proposal, especially after he told her about the house. Sure, he'd be spending the next thirty years of his life paying for it and he had some really renovations to work on, but it was all going to be worth it in the end.

He couldn't help the small smile the formed slowly on his face. As Kurt had said, by this time next week he would be on his way back to Lima. By this time next week, Finn would be on his way back to Rachel.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Do not even get me started on this chapter; Finn was being unusually difficult. And Kurt and Jer did not help __**at all**__. I'm now mad at all of them. And so is Rachel. You all should be too._

_Approx. three more chapters and an epilogue coming up; I'm getting kinda nervous to tell you the truth… I'm really going to make a mad push and try and have AT done by the season premiere! That wouldn't have been a problem if the boys hadn't had been such d-bags this week, especially on such a short chapter, but who am I kidding? I can't stay upset at them for long. (Rachel can though; she holds mad grudges.)_

_Also, to any actual homeowners, I have no idea what buying a home entails, especially in New York. I usually try to be as thorough as possible with my research, and I'm asking for a little willing suspension of disbelief on this one. I'm well aware there's probably no way Finn could afford a brownstone on the Upper West Side, but let's play pretend, shall we?_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	17. Finding a Voice

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Sixteen: Finding a Voice**

"_Wanted to belong here_," Annabel Lewis sang timidly while Rachel listened intently.  
"_But something felt so wrong here,  
So I pray,  
I could breakaway_."

Her voice trembled on the last note and she stopped all together, casting Rachel a sad glance. "I'm sorry, Ms. Berry," she whimpered, "but I just can't do it."

Rachel stood and gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course you can, Anna," she insisted, putting a hand on her pupil's thin shoulder. She'd been coaching Anna for a few weeks. While Mr. Schuester said a polite thanks but no thanks to her acting as an unofficial director of the New Directions, he did listen to all of her suggestions and let her work with the members on an individual level. So far she was coaching seven students on various days after school, but she had taken a particular interest in Anna.

From what she had learned from the gleeks she coached (Rebecca Robinson was the club gossip and one of her other students), Anna was actually the twin sister of the head Cheerio. While her sister didn't sound like she was a Santana Lopez or a Quinn Fabray, she apparently was the more outgoing of the two and by default, received more attention at home and at school. And that wasn't even the good part! Supposedly Anna was in love with her sister's boyfriend, Preston Adams, who just so happened to be the hunky male lead of the New Directions. He was also an ace baseball player and, from what Rachel knew of him, he seemed to be a healthy mix of Finn and Puck.

While Rachel wasn't bent on interfering in the love lives of high school students, she didn't see the harm in giving Anna a little push in the right direction. She was actually very talented; it was just her extreme timidity that held her back. She just needed a confidence boost. After much thought, Rachel decided that Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" would be just the song to coax Anna out of her shell.

"You just need to find your voice," Rachel said. "You've picked the perfect song for your assignment; you just have to _believe_ it."

"Believe it?"

"Of course! You're not going to be stuck in Lima for the rest of your life." Rachel bit her lip and turned her attention from her student to pluck idly at the piano keys. "You're going to be one of the lucky ones, Anna. You're going to get out of here."

Anna looked thoughtful for a moment. "But, Ms. Berry, look at how talented you are and you're _here_."

Rachel smiled sadly. "I chose to come back. There's a difference. Besides, we're talking about _you_, not me. You're very talented, Anna." She leaned over to nudge her with her shoulder. "I would know. I'm very talented too."

Anna giggled and ducked her head, causing her hair to hide her face.

"Come on; let's try it again from the top."

Rachel began playing and this time Anna made it through the entire song, her voice ringing out clearly through choir room.

"See?" Rachel laughed when she was through. "I told you that you could do it!"

Anna blushed straight to her roots but grinned proudly. "Ms. Berry?" she asked, causing Rachel to look up. She had started going by her maiden name, not as a sign of disrespect for David, but because everyone in Lima knew her as Rachel Berry and referred to her as such. It was much easier than correcting everyone she met.

"What's up, Anna?"

"I was wondering if maybe you might come to rehearsal on Thursday and listen to me sing. If you're not busy, I mean… please?"

Rachel couldn't help but smile. "Of course, Annabel, I would be honored to."

"Oh, thank you so much Ms. Berry!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Rachel's neck. She laughed as Anna heaved her backpack onto her shoulders and made her way out of the choir room.

She was rearranging her sheet music and putting it in color coordinated folders when she heard someone at the door. She looked over to see Mr. Schuester loitering just outside his office with a smile on his face.

"You're really helping Annabel out, Rachel," he commented. "She's an entirely new girl at rehearsals and in class. I'm very proud of you both."

"Both of us?" Rachel asked.

"Well, yes. I thought it would be much more difficult for you to be back in Lima, but you're really taking it in stride, making it a better place. And all with a smile on your face. Except…" he trailed off and inspected her carefully. "Have you been feeling alright lately, Rachel? You've been looking a little peaked."

"Yes," she said quickly, "I've been fine."

She grabbed her bag and held in front of her stomach self-consciously. She knew no one could tell she was pregnant yet, but it was already a matter of time. Already she had a small, but distinct, baby bump that was easily hidden by her clothes. She knew she would start showing more quickly with this baby, but her rapidly expanding belly was becoming a definite source of stress for her.

The only people who knew about her pregnancy, aside from her and the boys, were Mrs. Schuester, who had obviously maintained her silence, and her parents. But that didn't stop Mr. Schuester from looking at her knowingly.

"Look, Rachel, I'm just grasping at straws here, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here. And so is Emma. I'm sure Finn would love to hear from you too."

"Finn?" she squeaked. "Why would I need to talk with him?"

"I'm just throwing his name out there, Rachel. I know you two were close in New York, and he might be interested in what's going on in your life right now."

"Well, um, thank you for the pep talk, Mr. Shuester, but I have to go pick up Michael and Andrew now. I'll see you on Thursday." At that, she hurried out of the room before he could say anything else.

She made it to her car before bursting into tears. What was she going to do? Here she was, nearly three months pregnant, and she still had no idea how she was going to tell Finn that she was having his baby.

Couldn't _anything_ just be easy for once?

* * *

Jer groaned in frustration from his spot on the couch and Finn over at him questioningly. They had arrived in Lima the night before after a long day of driving since Kurt insisted on taking Pablo everywhere with him and refused to "traumatize" him by putting him on an airplane. That worked for Finn since that meant he didn't have to board Tank either, who was now chewing on a bone while an elderly Peanut looked on thoughtfully. Pablo was suspiciously nowhere in sight.

Of course, he had wanted to go see Rachel as soon as he got into town, but Kurt talked him out of it, stating that it was too late and that he wouldn't want to raise Carole's ire since they were there to see _her_ after all. So he played the dutiful son and sat through dinner quietly while Kurt and Jer went on and on about life in the Big Apple and Carole and Burt listened on enthusiastically.

Carole had taken a few days off to spend time with them while they were in town, so she and Kurt had gone off shopping, not even bothering to ask if Jer and Finn wanted to go too. Burt was still at the garage, so the two had been left to their own devices all day.

"How can you stand this?" Jer groaned again. "I don't know how you didn't die of boredom living in this place."

Finn grinned. "I had plenty to keep me occupied. Besides, what are you complaining about? You're an Ohio boy too."

"Yeah, from _Columbus_," Jer corrected. "It's a little different than freaking Lima."

"Well, what do you want to do? There's putt putt if the rain lets up, bowling, the movies –" He threw a quick glance at the clock. He didn't know what time Rachel would be off of work or when the boys would get out of school, so he'd put that off for the time being, but there had to be something else they could do. "Hey! I know where we can go!"

"Where?"

"Well, it's still a little early, but maybe we can drive over to McKinley and see if the glee club is practicing!"

"Oh my God, are you seriously going to be one of those losers who goes back to their old high school to say hi to their teachers?"

"It's not like I want to walk the halls in my letterman or anything," Finn said, disappointed. "I just want to drop in on Mr. Schue. We're still cool. And I was one of the glee captains, it's not loser-ish for me to go see the… the _legacy_ I helped create."

"What book did you read that out of?" Jer grumbled.

"You know what?" Finn asked, standing up. "Be that way. If you want to sit around here all day and watch your dog hump my stepdad's recliner, be my guest!"

Jer sat up and cocked an eyebrow as he looked down at Pablo. "So that's what that squeaking noise was."

Finn couldn't help but chuckle good-naturedly at Jer – he _was_ a funny guy – and shook his head. "Are you in or are you out?" he persisted.

"I'm in, I'm in!" Jer sat up and headed downstairs to get his shoes.

Finn grinned triumphantly to himself as he straightened up. There was still the off chance that he could bump into Rachel at the rehearsal, but he wasn't going to hold out hope. He'd already contacted Puck and knew where she lived, so he was planning on surprising her the following evening. It was Friday, so he knew Rachel wouldn't have work the next day and that way they could stay up and make up in all the best ways possible. Also, they had a life to start planning together, and while he knew it was going to take more than one night to get it all sorted out, he decided that that was a good start.

"How do I look?" he asked Jer when he tramped back up the stairs. He had pulled on a gray sweater over his blue button-up and thought he looked pretty good himself.

"You look like a dad," Jer grumbled.

He looked at himself critically in the mirror and frowned. "Well, I guess that's not a bad thing," he finally said. "I mean, I am going to be a stepdad soon. And maybe even someone's _dad_ dad one day."

"You sure are taking this dad thing to heart, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you keep dropping it in conversation, like what you're going to do with the boys and the whole 'this room would make a great nursery, don't you think?' thing. Which is cool and all; you _are_ inheriting some other dude's sons. But what if Rachel doesn't want any more kids? What if she decides she wants to try the Broadway thing again?"

Finn clenched his jaw painfully as he let what Jer said sink in. "If Rachel wants to be on Broadway, then I won't stop her. But, I mean, she's not only one who's going to be making sacrifices to make this relationship work. I've done what I can to prove to her that I'm serious about this. The least she can do is discuss it with me, right?"

Jer shrugged. "I guess so. I'm just saying I don't want to be around if that conversation goes badly."

He grabbed his jacket and pulled it on as they made their way to the car they had rented for their trip. He drove to McKinley carefully through the light rain that was falling, several years of driving in New York City making him nervous as he made his way through the streets of Lima. He was used to dodging in and out of the crazy traffic in his Mustang, but the empty streets of Lima caused him to have serious mailman-related flashbacks. At one point he actually jumped when they passed a fire hydrant, thinking it could be the erstwhile postal worker.

They finally arrived at the school and walked up to the main entrance, Jer grumbling the entire way. They went into the main office to sign in and he was told by the secretary that the glee club was rehearsing in the auditorium. He took a moment to wave at Principal Schuester who looked out at him from her office, her eyes wide with surprise.

He was nearly skipping down the hall in his excitement, only stopping to show Jer their trophy in the case. They finally reached the auditorium and crept in quietly as a little girl in glasses sang onstage. He could see Mr. Schue at his usual spot and several students seated in the first few rows, cheering on their peer.

He ducked into the last row, pulling Jer with him, as not distract the singer and sat back to enjoy the show.

* * *

"Ms. Berry!" Annabel giggled when she saw Rachel enter the auditorium. "You came!"

"Of course I did!" Rachel said, nodding to Mr. Schuester and greeting the other members she worked with.

"Okay guys!" Mr. Schue called after a few minutes. "Take a seat! Annabel's got her assignment for the week ready and she's going to perform it here on the big stage." He turned and smiled over at his pupil. "Whenever you're ready, Anna."

Anna nodded weakly, looking a little pale, and made her way up to the stage. Rachel gave her an encouraging smile as she indicated for the band to start. Then she drew in a shaky breath before beginning her number.

"_Grew up in a small town  
And when the rain would fall down_…"

She suddenly stopped and looked down in horror at Rachel. It looked like she was going to run off for a moment when Preston yelled from amidst the group, "Go Anna! You can do it!"

"Would you like to try it again, Annabel?" Mr. Schuester asked, looking on sympathetically.

"Y-yes. From the top please, Brad."

Again the music started and this time, after a quick glance at Rachel, she began again, her voice stronger and full of emotion.

"_Grew up in a small town  
And when the rain would fall down  
I'd just stare out my window_

"_Dreaming of what could be  
And if I'd end up happy  
I would pray_

"_Trying hard to reach out  
But when I'd try to speak out  
Felt like no one could hear me_

"_Wanted to belong here  
But something felt so wrong here  
So I pray  
I could breakaway_

"_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky  
And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_

"_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved  
I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_"

Rachel nearly jumped out of her seat when Anna finished the first chorus. She must have been practicing because she had never heard her sound like that! She contained her excitement by clasping her hands firmly in her lap and moved to the edge of her seat.

"_Wanna feel the warm breeze  
Sleep under a palm tree  
Feel the rush of the ocean_

"_Get onboard a fast train  
Travel on a jet plane, far away  
And breakaway_

"_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky  
And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_

"_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
I won't forget all the ones that I loved  
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_

"_Buildings with a hundred floors  
Swinging 'round revolving doors  
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me, but  
Gotta keep moving on, moving on  
Fly away, breakaway_

"_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye  
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_

"_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget the place I come from  
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway._"

As soon as she finished, Rachel jumped up to her feet and began clapping wildly along with the rest of the New Directions. Anna's performance had actually brought her to tears, something that hadn't happened since she had seen the _Evita_ for the first time on Broadway. And _she_ had done it; she had helped that little girl find something within herself that made her one of the most powerful vocalists that Rachel had ever heard. Maybe even better than herself, although she would never admit it out loud.

The group was just calming down, Anna now rejoining their ranks, beet red but looking pleased, when Rachel heard a commotion towards the middle of the auditorium where Mr. Schuester was sitting. She turned to see what was going on and nearly fell flat on her face when she saw Finn and Jer greeting him.

Even though it was still much too soon for her to feel actual movement, she could have sworn that the little baby in her belly began dancing a little jig upon sensing her daddy's presence just a few feet away. She thought about bailing through the emergency exit, but she was pretty sure that would make an alarm go off and completely ruin her chances of escaping unnoticed. So she just stood there, frozen in place, as Mr. Schuester walked down to the stage with them in tow.

"That was amazing, Anna!" he gushed. "Keep up the good work."

"Thanks, Mr. Schue." She giggled as several of her teammates patted her on the back and Preston reached over and ruffled her hair.

"Now, juniors and seniors," he said, smiling out at the group before him, "you guys will probably remember this gentleman behind me."

"Yeah, that's the _Sam in the City_ guy!" one of the older boys shouted.

"Mr. Hudson," Mr. Schue corrected, although he and Finn laughed appreciatively.

Rachel held her breath, praying to whatever god may be listening that Finn and Jer would look right over her and leave. Of course, she had no such luck. Jer stopped right in front of her and noticed her almost immediately.

"Oh _snap_!" he said on reflex, his eyes going wide. "Hey, Rachel."

He turned to where Finn was standing, staring at her with his mouth hanging open. "Look Finn, it's _Rachel_." He waited for one of them to speak, the students and Mr. Schuester looking on curiously, before rolling his eyes. "Okay, been waiting for this for weeks… you two aren't going to say anything, are you? …you're just going to stand there and stare at each other… _fan_tastic."

"Well, isn't this a treat?" Mr. Schuester finally said, breaking the awkward silence. "You guys, Mr. Hudson and Ms. Berry were the very first co-captains of the New Directions. Isn't that exciting?"

"Is that true, Ms. Berry?" Anna asked. "Maybe you two could sing us a song!"

"N-no," Rachel stuttered, finding her voice. "I really can't right now. I have to go. I have to… to pick up Mi-Mi-Mi…" Oh no! What were her children's names again?

"Michael and Andrew?" Jer supplied.

"_My_ children," she finally finished. "Well done, Anna. Now… I have to go."

She snatched up her purse, careful to hold it in front of her and rushed out, hoping that Finn wouldn't follow her. She was in the parking lot, jogging carefully to her car in order to avoid slipping on the wet pavement, when she heard heavy footsteps running up behind her.

"Rachel!" Finn called. "Rachel, _stop_!"

She stopped at her car and turned to him, thankful that the rain had turned into a light drizzle. "Yes?"

Finn stopped in front of her and looked down at her with sad eyes. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well. And you?"

"I'm good," he muttered. "Been busy."

"Yes, I saw _Sam in the City_ on at my doc–" she winced, realizing what she was saying, "–tor's office. Con-congratulations."

She hesitated. Here it was; here was her chance to tell Finn. But she just hugged herself around her middle tightly and looked up at him silently. Maybe a parking lot wasn't the best place for this conversation.

"How are the boys?"

"They're adjusting," she said, forcing a small smile. "What are you doing in town?"

"Oh, it's my mom's birthday on Sunday," he explained. He watched her hesitantly for a moment and reached out to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. "I've missed you," he finally said.

"Finn, I –"

"I know. You're probably still mad at me, Rachel, and I'm sorry for what happened before you left. I shouldn't have said those things about David."

"No," she said, shaking her head furiously. "You only said things I needed to hear." She smiled sadly. "You could have probably used a little more couth in your argument, but I forgave you a long time ago for that."

She watched as he swallowed nervously, his eyes darting anxiously around the lot. "Look, Rach, can we get together and talk? There's a lot I need to tell you. Can we do dinner or something? Maybe tomorrow night?"

Rachel worried her lip and looked down at her feet. "Well, we're going to temple tomorrow night."

"Saturday then?"

"I'm in charge of a food drive on Saturday."

"Please, Rachel, we can't leave things like this," he said pleadingly.

She closed her eyes and tried to steel herself against the pain in his voice. He was right though, they did have _a lot_ to talk about. "The boys do miss you terribly," she finally said. "If you would like to pick them up on Saturday and spend the day with them, I'm sure they would love that."

"And then we can talk?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded. "There's a lot that I need to tell you too. We can stay up all night if you like."

He grinned and pulled her into his arms for a tight hug. She held her breath and hoped against hope that he wouldn't feel her belly through her clothes. She smiled awkwardly as he pulled away.

"Well, I should go. I really do need to go pick up the boys."

"Oh! Yeah! Tell them I said hi and for them to start thinking about what they want to do."

He helped her into her car and she watched as he walked back to the school, his hands in his pockets. When he was finally out of sight, she slumped over the steering wheel and groaned loudly.

Seeing him just stirred up all the old feelings again. There was no denying that she was still in love with him, even more so now that they were having a baby together, but how could she reconcile the life she was living now with the life she wanted to live with him? There was no way she could ask him to give up his job and come back to Lima, and there was no way she, the boys, _and_ a baby would fit in his apartment. Sure, it was spacious, but it was hardly fit for a family of five.

And how would he react to learning about the baby?

Rachel sighed as she started her car. How she let her life become such a mess was beyond her.

* * *

"_Breakaway" originally appeared on the 2004 soundtrack, __**The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement**__. Song written by and copyrighted to Avril Lavigne, Bridget Benenate and Matthew Gerrard._

_**Author's Note: **__We're so close, everyone, and I'm getting so nervous! What's going to happen? Who's going to spill the beans first? How will Finn react? Will Pablo ever stop humping things? Stay tuned to find out!_

_Also, I finally got myself a Twitter that I'm going to use exclusively for fanfiction and general Glee-ness, so please feel free to follow me at **clearobscurity**. I know we're coming up on the end of A Tempo, but I still would love to have people to talk about Glee with; my RL friends, while fellow Gleeks themselves, are getting really irritated with my one-track mind and just don't understand the concept of fanfiction!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	18. Throwing Punches

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Seventeen: Throwing Punches**

"Is he here yet?" Andrew called over Rachel's head as she ties his shoes.

"Not yet," Michael announced from his spot at the window.

"Michael!" Rachel snapped. "Get away from the window. You're getting fingerprints all over the glass."

"But _what_ if he can't find the house?"

"Then he'll call! Standing in the window like a hungry orphan isn't going to get Finn here any faster."

Michael groaned dramatically and went to sit on the sofa next to his brother.

"Now, do you two remember what we talked about last night?" she asked, sitting back on her heels to look her children in the eyes.

"Say yes please and thank you," Michael grumbled.

"And don't say that we've gotta pee. Just say we've gotta go to the bathroom because it's rude," Andrew added.

Rachel stared blankly at them for a minute and wondered if there was an essential vitamin in their diet that they weren't getting. "Yes, yes we did talk about all of those things. But what was the main, big, important thing that I said that you could not forget?"

They exchanged a confused look and then shrugged at her in unison.

"About the baby…" she prompted.

"Oh!" Andrew cried. "Don't tell Finn about the baby!"

"That's _right_!" Rachel exclaimed. "You don't say a word about the baby. Even if the building you're in catches on fire and you think that you've only got a few minutes left to live, you keep. it. a. _secret_."

She smiling winningly over at them, hoping that what she was saying was getting through to them, but Michael just flung himself backwards and made a face. "Why can't we just tell him?" he asked belligerently. "Maybe he'll want to be with us again if he knows."

"Baby," she gasped, scrambling to sit between him and Andrew, "is that what you think?"

Michael scowled and shrugged his shoulders. "Sweetie, Finn not being with us has nothing to do with you and Andrew. He loves you two very, very much. We just moved is all and I know for a fact that he misses all three of us."

"But maybe if he knows about the baby, he'll want to live here."

Rachel sighed and stood up. "That's not an option, Michael. Finn's life is in New York and ours is here. Besides, I plan on telling him, I'm just waiting…"

"Waiting for what?"

"Well, um…" She wracked her brain trying to think of a good excuse to keep Michael quiet. "It's one of his Hanukkah presents! I'm going to tell him as a surprise." She smiled, pleased at her quick thinking.

"But Finn's not Jewish. He thinks if we eat hot dogs that we'll go to jail."

"What?" she asked in disbelief. "When did he say that?"

"At the baseball game. He kept asking everybody if all the food was kosher."

Rachel rolled her eyes. That did sound like Finn, so she let it slide. "Well, then it's his Christmas present. Look, if you can just help me out and keep it a secret, I would greatly appreciate it." She looked down at Andrew who was staring at them with big eyes. "And if you could make sure Andy doesn't say anything either."

"I won't Mama," Andrew insisted.

"But just in case. Please, Michael?"

Michael rolled his eyes and shook his head, but nodded his head in agreement. "O_kay_."

"Thank you. Now go grab your jackets. He'll be here any min–" she was interrupted by the knock at the door. "Now," she finished lamely as both boys hopped off the couch and ran to the door.

"Let me open it, Michael!" Andrew whined, but Michael just shoved him out of the way.

"No, I'm bigger."

"Boys," Rachel said in a warning tone as she grabbed their jackets from the closet. She walked up between them to stop the scuffle and pulled the door open herself.

"Finn!" they both shouted upon seeing him on their stoop, the fight obviously forgotten. Andrew flung himself at him first, and Finn crouched down to catch him.

"Hey guys," he said, pulling them both into his arms. If Rachel didn't know better, she would have said he was suspiciously glassy-eyed as he hugged them tightly to him.

"Look at you two!" he exclaimed. "You're getting so big! And it's only been a couple of months." Then he grinned as he straightened up, still holding Andrew.

"Yeah, well, I'm seven now," Michael said nonchalantly. "Maybe we should go get me a present."

"Michael Aaron Kutner!" Rachel chastised, hardly believing what she was hearing, but Finn just laughed.

"Maybe so," he said, hugging Michael to his side. "What do you want?"

"A drum set."

"Yeah!" Andrew cried, bouncing in Finn's arms.

Rachel shook her head vehemently. "No. Finn Hudson, if my sons come home with a drum set, you are a dead man."

"What's wrong with being a little musically inclined?" Finn smiled down at her.

"_Finn_."

"You look pretty today," he said, changing the subject, and Rachel nearly jumped when he tugged lightly on the hem of her navy sweater dress. "You look kind of like a girl I knew in high school. What was her name? Rachel Something-or-Another."

He looked at Andrew who covered his mouth and giggled. When he didn't respond, Finn reached up and tickled his belly, causing the little boy to squeal with laughter. Rachel tried not to laugh, but at the sight of Andrew squirming in Finn's arms and Michael looking up at Finn with obvious hero worship, she couldn't help but smile.

She quickly grabbed her coat and put it on before Finn could get another good look at her, and with his help, got the boys in their jackets. "What are your plans for the day?" she asked as she locked the house up.

"Nothing too wild." They walked down her front steps together and out to the driveway. "Probably watch some college football at Mom and Burt's, and then we're going bowling."

"Sounds like fun," Rachel commented. They stood and stared at each other for a moment and Rachel debated leaning over to give him a quick hug. She fought the urge and pulled out her car keys. "Well, the drive runs until three, so you can come over any time after that."

Finn nodded and gave her an anxious smile. "I'm really looking forward to spending some time with you," he murmured, scuffing his food on the driveway.

Rachel nearly choked and hoped her eyes weren't bugging out of her head. She could only hope that he would feel the same way after their talk.

* * *

Andrew jumped up and down and cheered as his ball rolled slowly down the lane and took out three pins. "It's a strike!" he shouted, giving Burt a high five.

"Yeah, whatever you say there, pal," Burt said, exchanging a smile with Carole. Finn was pleased by how smoothly everything was going. Finn had told her that he would been watching them the night before, and while she did seem a little confused about the situation, she hadn't complained. He figured it best not to go into too much detail once he and Rachel had their plans in order, but Carole had seemed genuinely pleased to hear that they had reconnected in New York.

The boys had been a little shy at first when they arrived at his mom's house, but as usual, they quickly lightened up. Michael stuck close to him and Jer while they watched football while Andrew took to Burt, especially after Burt explained to him about the carburetor that was sitting on the dining room table. They both found everything in the house fascinating, from his football pictures to poor, near-sighted Peanut who walked around the house bumping into walls.

They behaved really well the entire time, with only a couple of instances of bickering that quickly subsided. Finn watched as his mom took a particular interest in them and he immediately felt awful when he caught her cuddling Andrew to her side on the couch. He guessed it really had been a long time since she had a little kid in the house. Next time he wouldn't tune her out completely when she started in on the grandbaby talk.

Now they were all at the bowling alley, and after a quick run through on how to play (not like it was hard), they were really getting into the game. Michael, Andrew, Kurt, and Carole were playing on a lane with the bumpers up while he, Jer, Burt, and Puck, who had shown up to catch the Ohio game on the big screen, were on another.

Jer and Puck were hitting it off pretty well, although he was sure Jer was checking Puck out every time his turn came up. The way Kurt kept glaring over at Jer pretty much confirmed it, but he remained civil for the most part. He'd only called Michael and Andrew the "Jewish Beaver and Wally" once and kept referring to Puck as "pool boy," so as far as Finn was concerned, that was good behavior.

Finn had just finished his turn when he felt a little tug on the bottom of his sweater. Andrew looked up at him and stuck his foot out. "My shoe's untied," he proclaimed.

"Well, let's fix you up," Finn laughed and lifted Andrew up onto the bench next to Carole. He made sure to tie it tight and double knotted it for good measure. "There you go, Andy," he said, standing up.

His mom looked over at him and smiled proudly. "Look at you, Finn! Tying shoes and teaching them how to bowl. It's a shame I don't have any grandbabies yet. You're going to be a wonderful father one day."

"You think so?" he asked earnestly and she nodded.

"Of course! Why wouldn't you be?"

Andrew looked up from the ball return and smiled. "My mom's got a baby," he said idly.

Carole laughed and humored him good-naturedly. "She does?"

"Yup," he stuck out his little belly and patted it. "It lives in here."

Before anyone could respond, Michael ran and up and shoved Andrew, causing him to land right on his rump. "Shut up, stupid!" he hissed. "You're not supposed to say anything!"

"Michael!" Finn said sternly, putting Andrew's comments on the backburner. He strode over and quickly righted Andrew, who seemed to be okay, and then took the older boy by the arm and lead him away from the group. "What was that about, huh?"

Michael looked up at Finn wordlessly, obviously in shock from Finn's tone of voice. "He's your little brother," Finn reprimanded. "He's smaller than you and you can really hurt him by shoving him around like that. You're supposed to take care of him."

Michael ducked his head but Finn took him by the chin and forced him to look at him. "I don't ever want to see you do that again. And I _never_ want to hear you call anyone stupid ever again, do you understand me?"

He nodded but Finn shook his head. "Nuh uh. I want to hear you say it out loud. And then I want to hear you apologize to Andrew."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry," he grumbled. Then he looked Finn straight in the eye like he was missing the big point. "But it was supposed to be your Hanukkah present!"

He looked at Michael blankly for a second, and then turned back to where everyone was sitting. Carole and Burt were looking in the other direction, obviously wanting to let Finn discipline Michael without an audience, but Kurt was turned around in his seat and looking at him with his eyes wide.

He stood up and walked over to Finn, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Do you realize what Rachel Junior just said?"

Finn shrugged. "Well yeah, Kurt. And I told him never to do it again. What else do you want me to do, beat the kid?"

"Not that one, the little one."

Finn drew a blank. Something about Rachel having a ba... a ba... A BA-

"Well he just announced that Mommie Dearest has a bun in the oven."

Finn stood stark still and tried to piece together the puzzle as a sudden panic washed over him. His eyes fell on Puck, who was playing with his cell phone, and his mind went still. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air and tackling Puck to the ground. "You _bastard_!" he shouted as his fist connected with Puck's cheek. He was vaguely aware of a horrified screech from his mom, and shouts of surprise from Michael and Andrew.

"What the _hell_?" Puck managed to choke out before Finn landed another punch to his gut. He got one good swing in, busting Finn's lip, before Jer and Burt pulled Finn off of him, still cursing and seething.

"How could you?" Finn yelled. "How _could _you?"

"How could I _what_, asshole?" Puck snapped, rubbing his cheek with his hand.

"First Quinn, now Rachel?"

"What?"

"Finn!" Carole cried, and he saw her out of the corner of his eye, shielding the boys from the fight in front of them.

"Go on," Burt ordered. "Take it outside."

Jer guided Finn out, his hand firmly on his shoulder and Puck followed, grousing morosely under his breath. Kurt ran after them, handing Puck a cup of ice to put on his face, and a napkin to Finn to staunch the flow of blood from his busted lip. Jer pushed Finn down on a wet bench outside and Puck plopped down across from him, glaring at him menacingly.

"That's the last fucking time, Hudson," Puck said, pointing at him. "Next time you come at me throwing punches, your ass is grass."

Finn made to stand up again, but Jer forced him back down. "What the hell is going on, man?" he asked, throwing Kurt a worried glance.

"That – that _traitor_ knocked Rachel up."

"Excuse me?" Puck squawked. "You don't even know what the hell you're talking about. Crazy ass –"

"He's right," Kurt said, cutting off his tirade. "As much as it pains me to admit this, Rachel is pretty much the female version of me... without my sense of style, of course. And I know I would never sleep with Puck."

"Why the hell not? What's wrong with me?" Puck asked, pulling the ice away from his eye.

"You used to throw me in dumpsters!"

"So? I used to throw slushies in Rachel's face and she still made out with me."

"I said I wouldn't sleep with you, not that I wouldn't make out with you."

"I'd pay to see that," Jer muttered wryly.

Puck gawked at Jer. "You're gay?"

Jer met Puck's gaze for a good minute before finally answering. "Seriously?"

"What? I just thought you were some dude who was hanging out with Finn."

"Will you three shut up?" Finn managed to choke out.

Kurt looked at his step-brother sympathetically and took a seat next to him. "The way I see it, the only person out here that could be Rachel's baby daddy is you. Now listen to me, Finn: did you 'get into a hot tub' with Rachel?"

Thoughts were running through his head at a million miles a minute and he could barely process what Kurt was asking. "No..." he said absently. "But we slept together."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well... duh," he replied, failing to come up with a witty retort.

Finn was sure his step-brother was saying something else, but he tuned him out. Rachel was having a baby... Rachel was having _his_ baby, apparently. At first he felt like he couldn't breathe; he was going to be a dad. And for real this time. Then a little bubble of joy welled up in his stomach. He and Rachel were going to have a baby!

But just as quickly as it came, the bubble popped and was replaced with a steadily growing wave of rage. When was Rachel planning on telling him that he was going to be a father? He had just seen her earlier that day and looking back, it seemed as if she had taken every precaution to hide it from him! She hardly touched him, she hid behind her coat and that huge bag of hers, nor had she been the one to instigate their meeting later that day. And how long had she known? Did she leave New York knowing that she was carrying his child?

That more than anything sent him into blinding hot fury. He leapt up and started walking towards the street, not caring that it was sleeting or that he looked like he had just walked away from a chain gang.

"Finn?" Kurt gasped. "Where are you going?"

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. "Kurt, do you mind watching the boys for a little bit?" he asked, surprised to hear how calm he sounded despite the torrent of emotion boiling within him. "I need to have a talk with Rachel."

Kurt gave him a worried look and nodded before replying, "Of course... but hang on just a second." He ran back into the bowling alley, only to return with his jacket. "If you're going to walk all the way to Rachel's, you're going to need this."

Finn grabbed it from him and continued walking.

"Hey, asshole, aren't you going to apologize for punching me in the face?" Puck called after him.

"Later, Puckerman," Kurt snapped as he watched Finn stalk down the street.

He had hoped that by the time he reached Rachel's house, he would feel a little calmer, but his anger was still seething as he reached her street. How could she possibly do this to him? Yes, this was what he wanted, but not like _this_. She owed him an explanation; he deserved to find out like a _man_ that he was going to be a dad, not from a three-year-old in a bowling alley – and in front of his own mother no less.

He also felt immensely ashamed of what had just happened. There weren't that many people at the bowling alley, but he had made a fool of himself in front of the people who had mattered most. How was he supposed to teach Michael right from wrong if he was going to turn around and deck someone in the face right after he had just reprimanded him for a similar offense? He would have to rectify that mistake as soon as he hashed it out with Rachel.

He had no idea how long it had taken him or what time it was, but Finn finally reached Rachel's small house and made his way up her front stoop. He sat down and stared at his hands, thoughts churning through his head, his anger growing as each minute passed, and waited for Rachel to return home.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Finn is _pissed_! _

_Of course this chapter didn't turn out nearly as long as I planned it to; I blame it on Tumblr. The next chapter is already almost done though, and it's going to be a doozy (obviously).__ One more chapter and then and epilogue, eek!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	19. Do or Die

**A Tempo**

**Chapter Eighteen: Do or Die**

After putting her car in park, Rachel groaned and massaged her temples. She was exhausted. Running a food drive was more work than she thought, and it took all of her effort to organize all the volunteers and stations, and to avoid a still-smitten Jacob Ben Israel, who followed her around and called her "his little tulip".

The drive was a success though. She took a sense of pride from the work she did, more so than she ever did with the charities she volunteered with in New York. Those had mostly consisted of her sitting quietly in a room while Maura and her friends gossiped, proclaiming to be raising money for this organization or that.

She stopped by the grocery store on the way home and picked up all the ingredients for Fettuccine Alfredo since she knew how much Finn loved Italian food. She'd already called her dads and they agreed to take the boys for the night so that they could discuss their future in peace.

She walked slowly to the front porch, contemplating a quick nap, when she noticed someone seated on the steps. After living in New York for so many years, her first instinct was to politely tell the bum to squat somewhere else, but stopped dead in her tracks when she remembered that this was Ohio. And that was Finn sitting on her front stoop.

He looked awful. His hair was sticking damply to his head, the shoulders of his jacket were wet from the rain, his lip was busted, and… was he wearing bowling shoes? She immediately panicked and dropped the groceries to the ground, ignored the crack of a jar within one of the bags, and hurried over to him.

"Finn," she gasped frantically, "is everything alright? Where are the boys?"

"They're fine," he answered, his voice low and gruff. "They're with my mom."

She stared at him incredulously, feeling her face flush. "And why is _your_ mother watching _my_ children?"

"Because that's where I left them, Rachel," he said sharply. She was slightly taken aback. What on earth had she done to deserve this greeting?

Suddenly he was in front of her and without a question he placed his open hand over her belly, moving her coat to the side in order to feel her slightly rounded abdomen. His eyes darkened as he stared down at her.

"Maybe we should go inside," she said, fumbling with her keys. He didn't say a word and stepped to the side so she could unlock the door.

She set her purse down on the table just inside the foyer and snapped on the lamp before turning to him. Figuring offense was the best defense; she crossed her arms and glared at him. "Finn, you can't just show up at my house looking like you've been beaten half to death when you're supposed to be watching my children! What right do you have to leave –"

"You do _not_ get to talk, Rachel!" Finn shouted, slamming his hand on the wall beside him and startling her into submission. "What right do I have? What right do _you_ have leaving New York knowing you're having my baby?"

"I didn't know when I left," she said, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. He had been mad before she left New York, but now he was furious. Deadly so. She knew that he would never hurt her, but she still took a step back and clasped her arms protectively in front of her stomach.

"Then why didn't you tell me as soon as you found out?" he hissed, leaning down into her face menacingly. "Did you think I wouldn't want to know I was going to be a father? Did you think I wouldn't want to be in my child's life?"

"I-I was going to tell you. I just wanted to wait until the right time."

"And when was that going to be, huh? When the kid turns 18?"

"Finn, I am so sorry," she whispered, feeling herself grow a little panicky.

Finn set his face stubbornly and crossed his arms. "_How_?"

"What do you mean –"

"Don't play dumb with me! You said you were on the Pill. I'm not dumb enough to believe that this just _magically_ happened."

She looked down in embarrassment. "I-I couldn't afford my refill one week –" She jumped when he threw his arms up in disbelief before continuing on carefully, "– and then I just forgot. I didn't worry about it right away because the calendar on my phone –"

"The _calendar_ on your _phone_?" he asked in astonishment. "Seriously? You're going to make life changing decisions based off the calendar on your phone?"

"It was the only suitable option at the time," she mumbled.

"You had plenty of options, Rachel! You could have told me for one, given me a little warning. God! You are so _selfish_ sometimes!" He turned away from her and ran a hand down his face, wincing when he made contact with his hurt lip. "Just own up to what you did for once!"

"I just didn't know how to tell you," she cried. "I didn't want to saddle you down with a family; I didn't want to force you to give up what you had been working for. I had to figure out some things on my own."

"No, Rachel!" he snapped. "You don't get to rearrange everyone's lives whenever you see fit. You don't get a choice this time!"

Her heart dropped. So this was it; this was how it felt to lose Finn Hudson forever. She walked into the living room and sat resolutely down on the couch. Then she stared up at him mutely, silent tears running down her face, as she waited for him to speak.

He paced back and forth, running a hand anxiously through his hair. "First things first, you're going to quit your job and pack up your crap. Then we're going to hitch the first truck back to New York and –"

"What?" she gasped. What was he saying? She was expecting him to say he never wanted to see her again or that they would have to work out a custody agreement. This almost sounded like he was...

Suddenly his face softened and the tension left his body. Calmly, he walked over to kneel down in front of her, placing one hand on her hip and the other on her belly. "I have lots of reasons to be pissed at you, Rachel. For leaving me without giving me a chance to fight. For putting me in this position. And I'm still mad as hell at you for not telling me sooner about the baby. But none of that changes the fact that I still love you."

She ducked her head and began crying brokenly, not quite believing what she was hearing. How could this one man put up with so much and still kneel before her and tell her that he loved her?

He hooked a finger beneath her chin and forced her to look him in the eye. She was surprised to see his own were glassy and when he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. "This isn't how I wanted to do this, but it's the truth. I was sunk the first time I saw you."

"No you weren't," she managed to choke out.

"Okay, maybe not." He gave her a lopsided smile and shrugged helplessly. "But it didn't take me long to realize you were the only person who would ever know me. I don't want to lose you again."

Rachel didn't wait to hear more, she just propelled herself into his arms and sobbed into the crook of his neck while he rocked her back and forth, whispering words of comfort and showering endearments into her hair.

"S-so you're happy?" she was finally able to ask. "Abou-about the baby?"

Finn just smiled and took her face into his hands. "It's the best thing in the world." Then he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips and she felt like she was going to melt.

She was so incredibly happy in that one moment; Finn was still in love with her, he was happy about the baby, and he wanted her to go back to New York with him. But… "We don't have a place to live, though!" she said, wrenching her mouth away from his.

"Not exactly," he said, lifting himself off the floor to sit next to her on the sofa. "I bought us a house."

"You… bought us… a _what_?"

"I just closed on Monday." He was facing straight ahead, but she could see him watching her out of the corner of his eye, gauging her reaction. "I mean, it needs a lot of work. _A lot_. But it's in a good neighborhood and, well, it's freaking huge. And it has an elevator!"

"You've been planning this?" she asked in disbelief.

He gulped. "Um, yeah. I wanted to be with you even before I found out about the baby, Rach. I want us to be a family. Me, you, and the boys. So, if I had to buy us a six-bedroom house in the Upper West Side to prove it to you, then that's what I was going to do."

Rachel's mouth dropped open. "Isn't that a little… much?"

"Well, you haven't seen it yet."

She could only giggle in delight and wrapped her arms around him so that she could cuddle into his chest. "I know I'll love it. But how are we going to afford it?"

"You don't have to worry about that. I got a good promotion at work, I was going to tell you the day we…" he trailed off and Rachel hiccupped. So that's why he had wanted to have a celebratory dinner. He had been so excited and wanted to tell her the good news, but she had only been thinking of herself. She didn't even give him the chance to tell her. She began crying again, big body wrenching sobs that caused her little body to jolt every time she took a gasp of air.

"I'm such a horrible person!" she wailed as Finn tightened his hold on her.

"Hey, knock it off," he whispered. "What's done is done. We've got a whole lot of other things to look forward to now." He ran a hand through her hair and waited until she calmed down before continuing. "We've got to get you and the boys packed up and moved back, then we've got to get them enrolled in school – we probably can't send them to the same school they were going to, but there are a few really good private schools on our side of town. Oh, and I really need to get started on remodeling the house, I don't know if that'll be bad for you and the baby…"

Rachel tuned him out. She knew there was still so much more they needed to discuss, but she just wanted to feel his arms around her at that moment. She listened to the steady beat of his heart under her ear and let the gradual feeling of relaxation spread throughout body. She hadn't felt like this in weeks and, if it was up to her, she'd never go without this feeling again. She took a deep breath and let Finn's scent flood her system.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "Are you tired? Do you need to go lay down?"

"I was tired," she said, resting her chin on his chest to look up into his face, "now I'm just content." Then she furrowed her brow worriedly and sat up. "Your lip looks awful."

She took him by the hand and led him to her bathroom, sitting him down on the toilet seat. She dug around under her sink and procured a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a washcloth. "This may sting," she warned, gently dabbing at his lip with the damp towel. He winced the minute she made contact the wound, but held still as she cleaned it. "How did this happen?"

"I kind of punched Puck at the bowling alley," he said sheepishly and Rachel looked down at him thoughtfully.

"Why on earth were you fighting with Noah?"

"Well, I kind of thought that maybe the baby was… his. Possibly."

Rachel dropped the rag in her sink and let her mouth fall open. "Do you honestly think I would sleep with _him_?"

"I wasn't exactly thinking straight."

"Serves you right if I had."

"What's the supposed to mean?" he grumbled, leaning over to inspect his face in the mirror.

"You called Noah Puckerman to watch me, Finn. I mean, seriously?" She raised her eyebrows and he smiled bashfully.

"I guess you're right."

He straightened up and followed her into the bedroom. Before she knew it, she was in his arms and he was planting kisses on her face and lips. "I love you," she murmured.

"I love you so, _so_ much," he responded, his voice low and gruff, just before hoisting her up and kissing her senseless. By the time he set her down, her head was swimming and she swooned against him.

"Is this okay?" he asked, his hands roaming down her arms and across her belly.

She smiled and took his hands in hers, laying them flat across her abdomen. He laughed softly and rested his forehead against hers. They stood like that for a moment, and Rachel breathed a silent sigh of relief, knowing that she could finally put all the hurdles and turmoil behind her; that she could just let herself be with him with no more worries.

She dropped her hands to the bottom of her sweater dress and together they lifted it up over her head, and for a moment she felt a surge of fear that he might take one look at her and call the whole thing off, but his hands made their way back around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Beautiful," he whispered. He kissed her again, his lip still tasting vaguely of rubbing alcohol, and she deepened the kiss as they carefully made their way to her bed. She dropped down onto it and scooted herself up to the pillows, unhooking her bra and dropping it down the side of the bed. She heard his breath hitch in his throat and he quickly rid himself of his own clothing, kicking the tacky bowling shoes across the room and nearly tumbling over in his haste to get his jeans off.

Rachel giggled as he crawled onto the bed and leaned over her. He wasted no time in dropping his hands to her breasts, brushing his fingers gently across her sensitive nipples.

"You're sure, right?" he asked again suddenly. "This is definitely okay?"

She had to keep herself from rolling her eyes so as not to belittle his worry. As far as he was concerned, it was justified. "Of course it is. She's still just a peanut in there after all."

"I know. It's just that you're so small and the baby's so small and I'm… not." He looked down at her in confusion. "_She_?"

"Or he," she amended, smiling up into his face. "We still have a few weeks before we can find out if it's a boy or a girl."

She expected him to look happy or excited at the news, but instead he looked down at her with an extremely worried look on his face. Then again, they were both nearly naked and this probably wasn't the kind of pillow talk that he was used to. "Finn, is everything alright?"

He focused on a spot near her head. "Well, I, uh… I know it's kind of luck of the draw and we don't really get a _choice_, but if at all possible, I'd really, really like a girl."

"A girl?" Rachel asked, putting her hands on his cheeks and forcing him to look at her. "Why?"

He grinned with embarrassment. "I mean, a boy would be great, but we've already got two and I-I don't know if I could handle the…" He paused and made a scissoring motion with his hand. "…the, _you know_, in the living room."

It took Rachel a moment to understand what he was talking about, and when she finally did, she threw her head back and began laughing her heart out. She laughed and laughed until Finn finally stopped her with a firm kiss and a knowing touch.

* * *

Finn squeezed her hand lightly as they made their way up to his mother's house a few hours later. He was nervous about filling Carole in on everything that had happened in New York, but Rachel insisted that he speak to her right away. Also, it was getting late and they really couldn't leave the boys with her any longer.

They hadn't really left the bed once they fell on it, but they did stay up talking after their initial lovemaking session. He didn't know if it was her hormones or the amount of time they had been apart, but hot damn, it had been _explosive_! He had barely been able to keep up with her (not that he was complaining, of course).

They had decided that, while it would be difficult, Rachel should finish up the rest of the semester in Lima before returning to New York with the boys. It wasn't his favorite idea, but it did make sense; a smooth transition was what they all needed. It was only for a few weeks and at least it gave him a chance to get started on the messy remodeling projects, like tearing up the bathrooms and painting. It also meant that he would have to take a couple of days off here and there in order to fly over and see them every other weekend or so, but that was a given. There was no way he was going to miss another one of Rachel's doctor's appointments. He was going to be at her side like he was super glued there.

He hadn't been lying when he told Rachel that he was still upset about her keeping the baby news from him; nothing irritated him more than knowing he hadn't been there since day one for his child. But there was nothing he could do about it now, so he just set his anger aside and vowed that no matter what, he was going to be devoted to Rachel and the baby from there on out.

That aside, there was just one more hurdle for him to cross. He still had to ask Rachel to marry him. Sure, she was okay about moving to New York, but he had no idea how she felt about marriage. He just didn't want Michael and Andrew to think it was okay for them to knock a girl up and then just move her in without taking any other responsibility; he was pretty sure that was the textbook definition of a mixed message. And, yeah, okay, maybe it _was_ the 21st century, but he didn't want his kid to be a _bastard_. Not if he could help it, at least.

"So, are you ready for this?" he asked, looking down at Rachel as he unlocked the door.

Rachel actually looked nervous. "Are you sure she doesn't hate me?" she asked smoothing out her dress. Finn had absolutely no idea what Rachel was talking about when she said she already looked like a blimp. She did have the smallest of baby bumps, but really, he couldn't tell when she had her clothes on unless he put his hand right over it. He grinned to himself; he was going to have a hard time keeping his hands to himself the next six months.

"C'mon, Rach," he grumbled. "Everybody loves you."

That just earned him a dubious look and he sighed. "Well, my mom's always loved you. She still talks about how you helped me graduate high school."

"I did not," she said as he pushed the door open. "I just helped you improve your study habits."

"Hey, Rachel! Douchebag," Jer greeted as soon as they stepped into the house. "You know how much bowling shoes cost?"

"Um… no."

"Eighty bucks. Which is exactly how much you now owe me since I paid for those point dexter shoes you walked off in."

He looked down at the bowling shoes he was still wearing. "Oh, sorry. Did you at least grab my shoes?"

Jer rolled his eyes. "Your mom did. She's in the kitchen by the way. And your lip looks like crap."

"How are the boys?" Rachel asked, looking embarrassed.

"They're fine. We're all eating pizza and watching football in the living room if you'd like to join us."

She looked up at Finn questioningly, but he just smiled and placed a kiss on her crown. "I'll be in there in a minute. It'll probably be better if I talk to my mom first."

She nodded and followed Jer to join her children while he made his way into the kitchen. "Hey Mom," he said from the doorway. She was seated at the kitchen table with Peanut in her lap, flipping through a magazine. Kurt was sitting across from her and threw Finn a scathing glare before standing up and walking out of the room.

"Sweetie," she smiled and set the dog to the side. "Come sit down."

He took a seat next to her and tried to gather his thoughts before speaking. "Mom, I –"

"Kurt already explained everything to me, Finn," she said, cutting him off. "Why you felt the need to keep your relationship with Rachel a secret from me, I'll never understand, but I'm not angry."

"Really?" he squeaked and Carole just nodded. "I just thought… well, I know you were pretty disappointed when we broke up. I didn't know how you would feel about me seeing her again. Especially now that she has kids."

"Don't be ridiculous," she chastised lightly. "If either Burt or I had that mentality, we never would have started dating. And you're right; I didn't think it was right how she left things with you. But that was a long time ago. You're both adults now and I trust you to make adult decisions."

That seemed like the blessing he was looking for, but he still had to ask. "So… you're not worried?"

"Oh, sweetie," she said, taking his hand. Her eyes were glassy and he immediately felt awful for making his mom cry. "Don't you see? I was worried about you. I'm not anymore."

He stood and pulled her into his arms, giving her a tight hug. "Thanks, Mom."

"Just one request, Finn."

"Anything."

"Next time I find out I'm going to be a grandmother, can you make sure you're married first?"

He chuckled softly and nodded. "I'm working on it."

"You mean you still haven't asked?" she hissed, looking towards the living room.

"Not in so many words."

Carole shook her head and turned on her heel to head to the other room. "You better get on it, kid. I don't want a fatherless grandchild running around New York City."

He followed her and stopped suddenly, meeting Kurt's shocked gaze as Rachel fairly inhaled a slice of pizza. "Rach," he gasped. "You do realize that's not vegan. That's real sausage and everything."

She looked over to where he and Carole stood, her facing turning bright red. "The baby wanted it," Michael explained before turning back to his plate.

"Honestly, I've never seen a person eat a piece of pizza like that," Jer commented. "And I have three older brothers."

Everyone had a good laugh at that, and fortunately Rachel didn't seem too insulted. He left her and his mom to get reacquainted while he ran to his bedroom and grabbed his bag. They didn't linger too much longer at his mom's house after that, and left with promises to return the next day for her big birthday lunch.

It had been decided that he sleep over at her house so that they could talk the boys finish laying out the tentative plans that lead to their life together. As much as he couldn't wait to get them back to New York and settled into their new home, he had to admit that he was pretty nervous as Rachel drove them back to her house. Not only were they going to break the news to the boys, but he _had_ to do something on the proposal front.

He helped Rachel as they scrambled during in the usual bedtime mayhem before she called them into the living room and asked them to take a seat on the sofa. She sat between them, taking their hands in hers and looked up encouragingly at Finn as he took a seat across from them, the ring burning a hole in his pocket.

"Well boys," Rachel began, "Finn and I have been talking –"

"Andrew told about the baby!" Michael blurted.

"Did not!" Andrew cried, jutting out his lip and sitting back huffily.

"It's okay, baby." Rachel smiled and pulled him close to her side. "It was wrong of me to ask you to keep it from him. You didn't do anything wrong." Andrew spared a look in Finn's direction, who nodded in agreement, before cuddling back up to Rachel's side.

"With the baby on the way and all, we've decided that it would probably be best for us to move back to New York after this semester is over. Finn even got us a big, fancy house to live in so there will be plenty of room for all of us. Isn't that exciting?"

"Ugh!" Michael groaned, throwing his hands up in the air and flinging himself backwards. "Will you two just make up your minds already?"

"Michael, don't be so dramatic," Rachel said and Finn had to keep from laughing out loud. Rachel telling Michael not to be dramatic was pretty much the funniest thing he had heard all day.

Instead, he set his face neutrally and stood up. "It's going to be great guys. You're going to have your own floor and everything."

"Mhmm," Rachel agreed. "And you'll be able to see Bubbe again too."

Finn winced as he thought of Rachel's stern mother-in-law, but he supposed if he was going to be raising her grandchildren, he would probably have to put up with the woman from time to time. "Another thing guys," he added. "I know I probably scared you today when I lost my temper –"

"Nope!" Andrew laughed. "That was funny!"

"Uh huh! You looked like a wrestler. You jumped on Puck like this," Michael exclaimed and dove off the sofa to show him. He ducked his head when Rachel raised an accusing eyebrow at him.

"Well, it was still wrong. I'm a grown up and I should know better. I don't want to see you two even playing like that, okay?" They both shook their heads, but he knew his warning was falling on deaf ears. He was a kid once, and he knew as soon as he and Rachel left the room, they would be beating the crap out of each other – Lord knew he and Puck were guilty of it when they were Michael's age. But the way he figured, if they bothered doing it _behind_ his back, at least they _knew_ it was wrong.

Rachel smiled and clapped her hands together. "We still have a lot of planning and packing to do, but since that's all settled…" she trailed off as Finn walked over to them and kneeled down in front of her and the boys. "Was there something else you wanted to add, Finn?"

He cleared his throat and nodded uncertainly. "I know that this is a big step, for all of us but…" He looked down at first Michael, then Andrew, who both stared up at him with their mother's big eyes. "I want us to be a family. I love you both just as much as I love the baby in your mom's tummy."

He resisted the urge to reach out and rest his hand on Rachel's abdomen and idly he wondered if he would ever get tired of touching her, of marveling at the little life he and Rachel had created together. He smiled. That was part of him in there, just like the three people in front of him were a part of him, even if wasn't necessarily a blood bond. And he needed all of them to function.

"And I love you," he said, looking up into Rachel's shocked face. "I always have, and nothing in the world is ever going to change that." He took a deep breath. Here it was, do or die.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the jewelry box. "So, if it's okay with you guys, and if she says yes, I would really love to marry your mom. Rachel, wi–"

"Yes!" she cried, hurling herself at him and showering his face with kisses. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, _yes_!"

He barely had enough time to reciprocate when Andrew's little arms wrapped around his waist. "Does this mean you're gonna be our _dad_?"

"Our _step_dad," Michael amended.

"Your dad, your stepdad. Either way, we're all going to be together _always_," Rachel giggled, crawling into his lap, completely ignoring the ring box that had fallen to the floor. Oh well, he thought, he'd make sure she saw it later.

"Is that alright with you, Michael?" he asked. "I know you've been the man of the house for a while."

Michael stood and shuffled over to where his mother and brother were hanging unceremoniously off of him. "Yeah," he murmured, throwing his arms around his neck.

Finn choked back the surge of emotion that hit him just then and reveled in the fact that he was holding his _family_ in his arms. All four of them as it were. He met Rachel's earnest look as she turned her face up to him. It wasn't the most passionate kiss they'd ever shared, but it was full of promise and love, full of everything they had been missing and were fortunate enough to find all over again.

When she pulled away, they shared a smile over the heads of their children and he knew that, no matter what, this was exactly where he was supposed to be.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And that's all folks! But don't be sad, I have an epilogue and a few one-shots in the AT universe coming up, so keep an eye out for those. (The epilogue should be up in the next couple of days.)_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


	20. Epilogue

**A Tempo**

**Epilogue**

Finn gulped nervously and straightened his tie. He didn't think that he had ever been so nervous in his life. He cast a quick glance at Jer, who just smiled confidently, and wondered how he could be so calm at a time like this.

Seriously, what if she changed her mind? What if the music started, everyone turned to look at her, and it turned out that she had run off. He'd be a laughingstock. He could only close his eyes and pray that everything would go as planned, that they could make it to the reception without a hitch, and he could just relax because then it would be all over.

He opened his eyes and met his mom's knowing gaze. She gave him a sympathetic smile from her seat between Michael and Burt. Michael looked at him as if he knew how nervous Finn was and he could see the little turkey bite back a smile. If he found out that either Michael or Andrew had coached her any differently, he was going to wring their necks!

The music started, causing him to jump slightly. Jer just placed a hand on his shoulder before turning back to the bridesmaids walking down the aisle. There was a pause as they took their spots opposite of the groomsmen, and then, from around the corner, she appeared.

She was more beautiful than he had imagined in her white dress, a blue sash at her waist, her head held high, and her carefully coiffed brunette curls bouncing around her face. She took her first careful steps and then smiled widely. Slowly, as if building the suspense, she reached into her basket and dramatically flung a handful flower petals before her.

Like her mother, his little Elaine Paige – Lainey to him and her brothers – knew how to put on a show. And she didn't disappoint. She tilted her little hands gracefully, causing the flowers to fall just so, and took her time up the aisle, making sure she had _everyone's_ attention. Judging by the ooh's and ah's, she obviously did.

She had been born a little dancer; he swore she'd bounced around in Rachel's belly to the time of the show tunes Rachel listened to, and the first thing Finn noticed about her in the delivery room (other than her head full of dark hair) were those legs, long even for a newborn. Now she moved with a little spring in her step, toes pointed, back straight. Maybe it was just his fatherly pride getting the best of him, but he thought she was absolutely magnificent.

She made her way up to where he was standing next to Jer, who was chuckling in amusement at his soon-to-be niece before stopping suddenly, her smile drooping. Lainey looked from him to Rachel, who stood with the Kurt's other bridesmaids (or groomsmaids?), and her lip began to tremble precariously. He threw his wife a worried glance, but Rachel only bit her lip and shrugged. Some help she was!

So, before his daughter could throw a diva fit right there in the middle of Kurt's wedding ceremony, he kneeled down and stretched his arms out to her. "Come here, sweetie," he said. Immediately, her smile returned and she tossed the flower basket up over her head before hurrying into his arms.

"Hi, Daddy," she said in her soft voice, and planted a kiss on his cheek just as Kurt made his way up the aisle.

"See, this is why she almost didn't make the cut," he said snidely, taking Jer's arm.

"Baby," Jer laughed, "just shut up and marry me already."

The rest of the wedding went off without a hiccup.

* * *

Finn stood off to the side of the dance floor and watched the couples swaying to the music, his three-year-old now passed out in his arms after coming down from a wicked sugar rush. Rachel had warned him not to give her so much cake, and as usual, she had been right. Not that he would admit it.

Sugar-induced comas aside, Finn was a pretty top-notch dad, if he said so himself. Apparently his natural leadership skills came in handy when dealing with his sons and his overly dramatic daughter. And his overly dramatic wife for that matter. It was tough at first, going from bachelor straight to husband and father, but it was a dynamic he quickly became used to.

He smiled at Rachel, who was standing across the dance floor, talking to the producer of her show. When she first came back to New York, she was adamant about not becoming just another housewife again. Working with the New Directions performers individually gave her the idea to become a vocal coach – something she could do part-time and manage as she saw fit. And she didn't just work with students; she even got quite a few aspiring Broadway actors and actresses seeking her tutelage.

After a couple of years of balancing coaching and motherhood, she tentatively approached him about a producer Kurt had introduced her to. He was working on a new Off Broadway production that she thought had a lot of potential and was interested in trying out for the lead role. He had given her his whole-hearted blessing. Just like everything else, he knew it would be a struggle, but if anyone could do it, it would be him and Rachel. They were a team and always would be.

Of course she got the part. The show hadn't started its run yet, but there was a lot of buzz and he couldn't be more proud of her.

"How's Lainey doing?" his mom asked, coming up to his side.

He shimmied his shoulders, letting her limbs sway limply around him. "Out like a light."

Carole laughed and held out her hands. "Here, let me take her."

"Are you sure? She's getting pretty heavy."

"Need I remind you that I lugged you around for a good five years? And you were twice her size. Now hand over my granddaughter before I'm forced to do something drastic." He grinned, and handed Lainey down into Carole's waiting arms. "Go ask your wife to dance," she ordered as she walked back to the wedding party's table.

He paused and threw a glance back at Jer and Kurt, who were slow dancing with their foreheads together, and their four-month old daughter, Vivien, between them. It had taken Kurt just as long to plan a wedding as it had for them to find a surrogate mother and conceive a baby, but Finn had to admit the wedding _was_ pretty swanky. He had never thought you could get married at a lighthouse before.

Shrugging off his musings, he walked around the dance floor, making his way to Rachel. He stopped abruptly as Andrew ran by, chasing Mercedes' little boy, cutting off several couples in the process. "Andrew," he called out in warning.

"Don't worry, Dad," Michael said, coming up behind his brother. "I've got him."

Finn nodded and clapped him on the shoulder as he followed after Andrew. Michael was growing up quickly; already he stood up to Rachel's shoulders, but the kid was all knobby knees and elbows. Andrew, on the other hand, showed no sign of hitting a growth spurt anytime soon. He was only six though, so he had plenty of time to catch up.

"Are they misbehaving?" Rachel asked. She walked up beside him and took his hand, watching as the boys hurried off in the opposite direction.

"Nah, just causing their usual mayhem. Mike's got it under control though."

"Why does that worry me?"

"Because he talked his brother into cramming himself into the dryer last week?" He smirked when she looked up at him and wrinkled her nose. "Fortunately for us, there aren't any household appliances around here that are large enough for them to fit themselves into. I know, because I checked."

She laughed that laugh he loved so much and he pulled her to his side. "Are you ever going to ask me to dance?" she asked.

"Maybe. Do you want to keep those toes?"

"Nonsense!" she insisted. "You shuffle around adequately enough for one quick slow dance. So how about it, Hudson? Are you up for some of this?" She took a few steps back and placed her hands on her hips, smiling saucily at him.

"_Oh_ yeah," he said, letting her lead him onto the dance floor.

She fell easily into his arms as they found the rhythm. He caught Jer's eye and his friend winked at him proudly before turning back to his new husband and daughter. He chuckled softly as he planted a kiss on the top of Rachel's head.

"It was a gorgeous wedding," she commented. "I wish I had thought of renting out a lighthouse."

"It is pretty awesome, huh?"

"Mhmm. I'll have to keep this one in mind for my next wedding," she teased.

"Hey! Ours wasn't too shabby. A penthouse wedding on New Years, dancing by fireworks –"

"Aside from the pregnant bride and a dog that ate half the cake, it was wonderful."

"He only ate one tier, and I don't blame him. That was a good cake. And the groom was pretty smooth, if I do say so myself!"

Rachel giggled and snuggled more closely to him as a cool breeze blew off the water. "Oh yes, what was it? 'I'm not much of a dancer, but if my wife will indulge me in a first _song_…'"

"There wasn't in a dry eye in the house," he exclaimed, puffing his chest out with pride. "Plus, I came up with that idea all on my own."

"I always said you were smart, if not a little cheesebucket."

He laughed and crooked a finger under her chin, running his thumb over her bottom lip. "I love you, you know?"

She nodded. "I love you," she reciprocated, standing up on her tiptoes as he lowered his face down to hers.

"Get a room!" Puck called as he danced by with his date. They pulled away from each other, oblivious to their less-than-subtle friend, and continued to look smilingly into each other's eyes.

Finn didn't know what he had done in his life to be such a lucky guy, and he didn't want to jinx it by dwelling on it too much. Lord knew he didn't deserve half of what he got, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He still marveled at how Rachel and he were able to find each other again after so long, and then rebuild a life together. Sure, they had both taken massive detours in their lives, but somehow they were right back where they were supposed to be. One time, shortly after they were married, Rachel had used a really sophisticated word for it – something about music changing and then going back to how it was at the beginning – but he'd long since forgotten what the exact term was.

Regardless, Finn knew exactly what she meant.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__And so ends __**A Tempo**__! I can't tell you all how much fun I had writing it, even if it was difficult at times. I want to take this quick moment to thank every single person who read, reviewed, and followed this story throughout; I truly appreciate all the love you've sent my way!_

_If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter at clearobscurity. There you'll find info on any future fics I may do, including __**A Tempo One-Shots**__, Glee talk, and general nonsense._

_Once again, I thank you all for reading from the bottom of my heart!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Glee is the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. I'm just manipulating it for my own nefarious (and strictly nonprofit) purposes._


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